[pct-l] Little Cheapo Stove

["ROBERT E RIESS" <CDRRIESS@prodigy.net>]

My two kids were with their mother, leaving me unsupervised.........

I decided to experiment while watching my two NFL teams (SD & MN).  The
burner is the bottom inch of two soda cans, fitted one inside the other with
the top upside down and slit down the sides for fit.  In the center is
drilled a 1/16th inch hole.  Halfway between the center and the rim are four
3/32 inch holes evenly spaced at 90 degrees.  Outside the rim, halfway to
the shoulder, are sixteen 1/8 inch holes evenly spaced.  I estimate the
weight at 1/2 oz.

The stove/windscreen is a piece of aluminum vent duct called a DAC4 which is
a 4 inch long by 4 inch diameter connector made by Deflecto and bought at
Home Depot for $1.77.  I estimate it weighs about the same as 6 sheets of
typing paper, which is an ounce give or take.  (This is really thin
aluminum, not as thin as a soda can, but easily cut with a scissors.)
Centered 3/4 inch from the top and bottom, I drilled eight 3/8 inch holes,
which is a very delicate operation with such thin stock.  3/8 is the biggest
sharp drill bit I have.  I tested this arrangement and determined it wasn't
getting enough air.  Using a standard one-hole paper punch, I added holes
3/8 inch from the top and bottom, centered between the 3/8 inch holes.  This
might provide enough air, but the flame pattern was a little wasteful,
shooting out of the 3/8 inch holes.  Using a scissors, I cut out the stock
between the top edge and the punched holes, effectively forming notches with
semicircular bottoms.

Here's how this apparatus operates.  Cut two 4 inch lengths of heavy cotton
string for wicks.  Insert both ends of the wicks like staples into the four
holes in the burner. On a level surface (a scrap board on a picnic table)
place a 5 inch square of aluminum foil and put the burner in the center.
Using a 1/8 cup measure, pour denatured alcohol from its container to 1/8
inch below the rim of the measuring cup.  A full 1/8th cup is too much.  It
burns too long.  I haven't figured out how much fuel this is yet.  Slowly
pour the fuel into the burner, soaking the wicks in the process. Light the
burner, place the stove around it and put your kettle with 2 cups of water
on top.  You can observe your operation through the 3/8 inch holes.

This is a slow burning stove.  There is flame at the wicks for almost 5
minutes before the stove starts to "generate" like a Coleman white gas
stove.  You can hear it, and you can see flames licking out the top notches
and holes.  My 2 cups of room temperature water reached a rolling boil at 9
min 20 sec, and the stove continued burning to just short of 12 minutes.
Maybe a little less fuel would be optimum.  The whole thing was handled
comfortably  90 seconds after the flame died.

I am going to continue to experiment, looking for a little bit quicker boil.
The air flow isn't optimum yet, and I want to try a few different
combinations of hole size and number on the burner. The only pot I have is 6
inches high and 6 inches diameter, which might be a tad too big for the
stove.   I am planning an "Expedition Size" stove using two 32 oz aluminum
cans, but these won't be available until I drink the two quarts of malt
liquor I had to buy to get the cans.  The sacrifices I make in the name of
science.

Once I get a prototype I like, I will accurately weight it and see how much
fuel would be needed to boil colder water.  I will also try using Esbit tabs
on top of the burner.  Once the fooling around is done, I'm going to try
making a burner using only a Swiss Army knife and two soda cans.

Happy New Year,

Bob Riess at the TrailHead in San Diego.

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