A Better Brick Rocket Stove? 

I really like that the second improvement required no power tools. Thanks for the tips!

Nice video - like your narration. Funny, you and another channel both do these “back to nature” builds and then use a propane torch to start the fire!!

A metal dryer vent or water heater vent elbow works great. Cheap and easy. Also put the stick hole towards the wind so it will blow in to feed oxygen to the fire. Adding a 1" stick in the chimney helps the fire feed up to the pan. These tips made my stove work better. Going to change mine from 16 to 20 brick stove. Also saved the burner grate off the top of my old gas cook stove to put on top of it.

First mod is building a small rocket stove out of cans, supported by a rocket-stove-shaped pile of bricks. Seems like a lot of fiddly work to end up with a smaller stove. Second mod with the hardware cloth looks like a winner.

You nailed it, Eric! Could it be better? Well, maybe, but that second one is officially *Better Than Good Enough*. After that, it's all just goofing off. We're all welcome to goof off, because goofing off is fun, but for simplicity, when you're just going to go speed-fire in the back yard, now you know: A metal grating plus that many bricks, built with that height, and the job gets done. That skill is especially useful when wood is wet, because with a fire that's high-temp, low fuel-consumption, you're able to cook larger fuel, driving off dampness so that you can get a larger campfire going. Again--you nailed it, great job, and as always, I really love your personality. The ethic of showing what doesn't work and then working your way toward what does work--that's the best example for anyone trying to develop a new skill.

Phil here from New Zealand we r a very diy country so we just think that u r totally great love yr videos u seem such a genuine guy to us good on u mate

Eric, you remind me of my cousin, Keith, he's always coming up with great ideas, and then he perfects them! Stay safe and healthy! ~Margie

I have been obsessed with these for about 8 years. From what I’ve seen the heat will make quick work of the tin can chimney. The temperatures can be very high.

Great video I just built 3 side by side rocket stove for the use of cooking on my problem is getting a good fire to start. Guess I need to get one of them propane burner things to start mine with. Thanks for showing us your babies cute cute..

Rocket stoves are a fun project for a cool weekend in the fall. I am going to try the liner method, looks like a great improvement.

Try metal downspout curve

you could make a vortex rocket stove with the cans inside the bricks with the last one that you did with the mesh at the bottom to gain more air from underneath

Did the second one this arvo. Worked very well even my teenagers said so. Boiled a kettle for tea and heated oil for excellent poppadums. Many thanks from west wales. Diolch.

I made one of the coffee can rocket stoves that are on RU-vid, I wish there was a way for the fuel/wood to be gravity fed when using it. There isn't a ton of room for the sticks of wood and they tend to burn up quickly while I'm cooking. Trying to feed the fire and cook at the same time is a challenge. If the tube for the sticks was at an angle, I could use much longer sticks that would keep falling in as the ends burn.

As I was 5 fire was fun, now I m 56 and fire is still fun😃

i love your videos. you're a great guy Eric ! so this is a essentially an outdoor wood stove for heat... not for cooking. i like it !

If you do the cans again, fill the empty space between the brick and metal with sand.

A thought on the one with the hardware cloth. If you just cut it to the depth of the fire box you could put a few bends in it and make a trough that would allow you to put more wood in the fire box at one time. I have too many projects right now or I would give it a try myself and let you know the results.

very instructive

Great Video. Fire at the end was pretty high for cooking. Too much air is flowing thru so If you slightly cover the bottom opening of the rocket stove with a piece of tile, but leave a little space for air to cycle in. Now there is less air in, less flames. And the fire should last longer. I am from Texas and am experimenting while I build one also. Also try putting an open can underneath the metal sheet. Just a thought if you are using it for cooking. If its just for heat or just chillin' out...what you made works just fine. Bricks seem better that the blocks. Great Video

Good idea

Glad I found this channel!

Thanks, the no tools idea looks good, though somehow I missed how you made it

More flame !! Fire is fun !! Great video thanks for sharing ;)

That's a big improvement! Thanks for a great video.

greetings from germany..very well done

This is Awesome - how many bricks do you use? have you experimented with advantages of making it higher/lower?

If you fill cans with water and then freeze them it makes them easy to drill into or cut without deforming them.

Pretty cool. You're making a stove pipe elbow

🌱Lv ur true spirit! Ur Mantra ‘use what you have is Golden! If you are truly and seemingly off the grid, then bricks/stone drives it! Any physical tool can make this happen! You can do this with out prefab tools in earth/ground, and leave no trace! Be true to: Align with earth, and use what it gives you to sustain it!🌱

What if you used a piece of stainless steel flue pipe? We have a small wood parlour stove we made a chimney for. I bet we have some extra pieces. Also going to try and use fire bricks.

Use a duct tube crimping tool (cheap) to make one can end fit into the other easily.

Instead of screwing the cans together, friction fit them, drill holes and then pop rivet the pieces together to make a continuous stack. Also you need to seal around the joints to get the best air draw. Maybe go with a plaster of paris? I think they are pretty cheap, that's what everyone uses to make tin can forges.

Spike and Andy are QT's!

Good idea. Thank you for sharing!

it's a little bit ironic that a metal can all by itself actually makes a great rocket stove 😂

Great thank you

I like the clay fire stove used by the Chinese youtube Lin Ziqi...the brick one reminds me of that.

JB Weld (epoxy) should hold the cans together. The Dakota fire hole has a 1 ft diameter burn pit and a smaller tunnel coming into it. This creates a venturi effect. Rocket stoves are based on the Dakota fire hole. So my idea is to make a venturi (hourglass shape) in the chimney section. I don't have a solid idea on how to do it. Maybe have enough bricks in the stack so you can push the side bricks in a middle layer closer together to create the restriction. Try using a half brick on the back wall to accommodate the decreased diameter from the sides. I've had a problem getting the half brick cut squarely. Maybe on that one, turn a whole brick sideways (parallel with the side bricks). Alternate idea for venturi. Make the feed hole larger (2 bricks high) or smaller (how? cut height of a brick in half?) The venturi is used in the old style carburetors. Low pressure on the manifold side (away from the intake side) is where the fuel is sprayed in. Creates high pressure at intake side, low pressure (low pressure vacuum) on the manifold side. For a visual example of a venturi, imagine a multi-lane highway where construction blocks off one or more lanes. Traffic backs up coming into the funnel, then as cars get through the restriction they speed up. Once you have the venturi, you can play with the size of the restriction to see the effect of flame height, listen for roaring. A thought on the hardware cloth. I like the idea of a fire grate but HW cloth is galvanized. The heated zinc puts off toxic fumes. Better to go with a steel grate

Some tin cans have a white plastic lining. I'm worried about contaminating the food that I'm cooking with toxic burned plastic. So I'm going to be sure that my cans aren't plastic lined. 💖🌞🌵😷

Could you use the tin that is from the back of a dryer? Oh absolutely way easier using the pipe used for a dryer

How about making the chimney out of tile pipe instead of tin cans using a ceramic tile saw?

I love your Tips and i love your little Helpers . Last year i realized the Rocket Stove in a Bucket... Greetiings from Germany :-)

Try keeping the lower chamber for air only. And the upper chamber for fuel. Better or worse ? idk

Would it be easier to use metal snips and just cut the can with the snips?

A stove-pipe elbow?

What about cutting The can by drilling it with same sized hole drill.

Love your Labs !!!!!

It’s mostly brake and repeat. Dogs are beautiful

can is a great idea, just gotta seal the can with metal ducting tape or rivets or tapping screws or drill holes and use wire.I would put sand around the outside of that or can system FLU

Hack saw....the mini kind

where do you find the half bricks ?

Like the videos keep it up. Give me some good ideas. I have a piece of 24 inch pipe.Uhm

Oh! The one with the double chamber is the ONE.

Hi. I like your try builds. You limit yourself with the tin cans, smaller flame. The build with mesh was.much better. Bigger n wider flame, but it you're just cooking on it, you need more embers at bottom. You don't need a high flame, just constant heat from below. Peace to you and yours

GardenFirek or should that be GardenFlamek? Great entertainment. Just need that pan cooked pizza on the top of the rocket stove!

How many bricks on the screen stove

Excellent fun!!!!

i cooked on a rocketstove for 4 years, i used thick metal bars to elecate the wood a littke. the metal bars always deformed after a while /6 months > daily use....

Guy have you ever made a coal forge or even gas forge? I'd be interested in seeing what you come up with. Your rocket stove might be on that track.

Looks good so are you still staying out of the city.

Hvac aluminum tape.

Those cut cans and your friction fit...a little JB Weld Epoxy would do the trick

What's your goal here, to make something that works better, lasts longer, or is portable (or can be disassembled)? Cans just aren't going to last long. I'd just get 2-3 feet of black pipe, weld the angle, maybe more like 110 degrees. Mortar all the bricks together permanently, filling the void with vermiculite insulation.

My rocket stove is self cleaning so I don't have to disassemble for ash removal

i would just buy water heater exhaust duct. Should work great

How many bricks did it take?

Would using the tin coiling used on dryer (dryer to wall piece?)

heat metal ducting tape , or tapping screw better l;like u said

Flitting to fit pack sand around it let's cook

Adding the cans where you already have a brick hole space seems redundant and unnecessary.🤷‍♀️ Too much work! The first rocket stove video I ever watched had a missing half brick on like the second or third layer to allow for air flow. Wish I could find that design again.😊 Good luck with your creations.

Wow no smoke! That means it’s a super hot fire…

The exhaust would be too smaill. A rocket stock has the exhaust bigger than the wood inlet.

How about welding itt

Like for a wood stove

First!

Too much!

hitting the camera with bricks is very annoying. please don't hit the camera anymore.