Thread: Alcohol Stove DIY

I played with those for a while. In the end, I ended up going with a Sterno stove and generic Sterno used mostly with a US military canteen cup.

For times I don't want to be tied to a separate stove, I use Trioxane fuel tabs with the canteen cup's stove. (The canteen nests inside the canteen cup, and the canteen cup nests inside the stove. The whole works nest inside the canteen carrier. Nifty lil' setup.)

I fish and hunt when I have time, and this type of thing works very well for me. I carry a canteen anyway, and there's not much extra weight.

But yes, those alcohol stoves are nifty.

Josh

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Gimp, I'm looking at getting one of these White Box Alcohol Stove from Hikelight.com

And carrying the meths in one of these 16oz Rum Runner® Flask

That's a good looking solution. Can you stop one of these stoves once it's lit, or do you just wait for it to burn out?

you can wait or choke it out, i have the "cat tin stove" that i made
looking to change to gas as the meths cooker are good if you want a cuppa or cook some noodles
but you need to carry extra meths if going over night etc
all a weight game i guess

I just use a fire maple hornet with a 100gm canister, as light as I need. These can stoves are cool though


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Originally Posted by gimp

I'm interested in alcohol stoves, not so much to save weight as to save the annoying logistical issues of gas stoves - having a stack of half full canisters at home. Can you buy a decent lightweight pre-made stove?

I had the same hatred of half full canisters, until I found out you can refill them from a standard LPG BBQ bottle. Much cheaper and you don't get left with a heap of half full canisters. Alot of people don't recommend it but provided you are careful it can be done safely. This revelation has meant Ive gone back to using canister stoves again.

I use one of these


Screw one end onto the canister and the other onto your LPG bottle and away you go. A scales is used to determine when its full.

In saying that, @Blue Arrow you have just cost me two days researching and building alcohol stoves. I never thought it would be so much fun. Who doesn't enjoy tinkering and fire!!!! I'll be trying one of those capillary stoves tomorrow, just need to buy some more meths, as i used it all up today.

I made one out of a redbull can like scoped described. Works fine. Now that its cold and I'm hunting high its jetboil time.....

Originally Posted by Blue Arrow

Made another alcohol stove while on holiday over Easter.

Attachment 35832

It's made from two Tui cans that I salvaged while at Dad's. As you can see he prefers larger cans but any normal size soda/beer can would work.
The bottoms of both cans are used, with one of the ends having a large hole cut in the centre with smaller holes drilled around the outside.

In between the two 'bottoms' is a false wall which seats in a low point on both ends.
This false wall is wrapped with steel wool (to insulate) which is hidden between it and the outside of the cooker.

The bottom half of the can is crimped to fit inside the top (part with the holes). I forced the top on the first time and it split. So gently does it.

Attachment 35831

This is the template I went off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027qdmJCRak
I didn't have the tool he had to cut the large hole so I used Dad's (wood) holesaw.
Which didn't hurt the blade or me (I didn't tell him).

Attachment 35830

Turned out well. Probably the only thing a can of Tui is good for really.

Would love to see what other people have made.
Post a pic if you've made/use one.

Nice stove BA, Here's a couple of quickies I tried, Seem to work ok, Boil water in no time.

Bman. Where did you get that from? Half empty canisters are a pain.

I've made various alcohol stoves, great fun, except when I burnt a bit of our outdoor table, her indoors wasn't too impressed! Lol

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

Bman. Where did you get that from? Half empty canisters are a pain.

I've made various alcohol stoves, great fun, except when I burnt a bit of our outdoor table, her indoors wasn't too impressed! Lol

Firstly I want to say, I am not responsible for anybody who decides to try refilling canisters. So don't flame me if you get flamed. With that being said, here is how I've gone about it.

Luckily the yanks have done a lot of the problem solving already. Have a read of this link first if it interests you.

Adventures In Stoving: Refilling Gas Canisters

Its a similar principal its just we are using LPG. The big difference (and where all the warning come from in the US) is their BBQ gas bottles are generally 100% propane which is dangerous for refilling. However NZ LPG is a 60:40 propane/butane mix ideal for canister refills, so the adapter I showed which isn't recommended in the US, is Ideal here.

now you ask where to get them from, I bought mine from ebay..

Propane Refill Adapter LP Gas Flat Cylinder Tank Coupler Adapter Valves Picnic | eBay

I wasn't too sure if it was going to work but given it was so cheap i thought it was worth the risk. From memory, I paid around $5 all up including shipping. I did have an issue that the thread on the BBQ bottle end did not fit, but as I had a spare fitting lying around, I simply switched them out.

You can also get them from Aliexpress too

Shop propane refill adapter online Gallery - Buy propane refill adapter for unbeatable low prices on AliExpress.com

Anyway apologies for digressing this tread.

I've got time off work at the moment, so my goal for today is to build a capillary stove and a red bull bottle stove. Mr Tetkoba makes things of beauty!!!

@B_man what a great idea!

Haha, glad I inspired you. I'm not a pyro (I don't think) but there's something about staring into a flame isn't there?
Chuck a couple of pictures up when you tinker again.

Nice, look at the flames on those things.
Do you call them your Sweet Little Demon Stoves @BushHunter?

yeh, flames is good. but you don't really want too much orange, blue flame means that its burning efficiently and hot. the rest is just wasted gas. that's why I like the capillary hoop stove as its not as fuel hungry as the bottle upside down ones

also have a play with the hole sizes , I found .8mm was the best, 1mm a tad too big. and also instead of drilling straight in, drill on an angle so the gas comes out more smoothly

Just be careful with using stoves like this in doors , there is a possiblity of starting a fire inside your house ( donot ask HOW I know this ) , and maybe your insurance company will not payout ?

Anyway risky either way IF something goes wrong , I have used the meths cookers , and they are not bad , however they are ON or OFF , no real smimmer control , they ARE however simple & robust .

I use a kiwi disposals swiss stove its a good little unit