I’ve seen a billion DIY alcohol stove videos but this is the only one that has the Whats, the Whys, the Hows and the Wheres. It’s fantastic how you use random stuff for measuring and making too 👍
This is the Best lil alcohol stove out there! Made your design for couple years now, quite afew actually & given to family members too. Hurricanes, power outages, camping, etc. I use denatured alcohol & 3 bent paperclips as pot standoff. Thanx so much!
From all the designs here on RU-vid I reckon this the best design for my purpose. In an indoor experiment 1 tbsp (15 ml) denatured alcohol burned exactly 3 min 20 sec. The same time it took to boil 1 cup (240 ml) of water at 30 deg C in an ordinary pour over kettle (would have been probably even faster if I had used a soda can). I tried the experiment with my household gas stove and the time for boiling 1 cup of water in the same kettle was also 3 min 20 sec. I am very pleased with the results and I can't thank you enough for the excellent video and tutorial.
Thanks for the feedback, Klaus. This is the one design I've settled on and with the jigs, I can make one in 10-15 minutes so I just make a new one every time I go out in the woods. I'm only out in the woods when it's below freezing though so it takes more fuel for me to boil water for my 700ml tea mug.
Thank you for doing this easy to understand video for this 73 year old couch potato great grandmother that just LOVES to see these outdoor cooking stoves, lol! I’m a visual learner so this video was perfect. I have various purchased stoves but I will definitely use your video to make an alcohol stove since you made it so easy to understand. I want to have plenty of cheaply made stoves on hand in case I need to give them away for any reason.
Bravo!! I just made a similar one without the inner wall that takes a lot of time to prime but this one seems a lot faster and easier! If I made the last one run for 34 minutes this one will probably outdo it for sure. Thanks for the tutorial my friend!
Thanks again! I don't remember now how I came across these stoves but once I saw a few videos, I knew I had to have one in my backpacking kit and that's how it all started. I'm really all about the backpacking.
Awesome video. 👌 I'll be making one of these in the near future. Helpful tip: a can opener works great for cutting out the top center of a pop can. Makes a nice smooth rim, no filing needed!
Thanks, Lucas! As for the tip on using a can opener, I've yet to hear which type of can opener will leave that lip that the internal wall needs. If you have the ability to make a video, that would help all of us.
Great Video! I use AntiGravity Gear "Tin Man" stove (which is awesome), but I do like the idea of having the higher and more upward pointing ports like you use here. Gonna give this one a try! Thanks again
Man I been making mine all wrong,I was putting the top in the bottom, instead of the top over the bottom,I kept having leaks and whatever else can happen lol,I watched a few of ur videos And I made one last night that worked great,no leaks and it took no time to bloom,I subbed to u as well,I appreciate u sharing this,take care man
TimCan The Jig Man yeah I love different ways to start fire,always makes for a good camping story,I have thought about it or at least cooking with it in a video,it should be pretty comical lol
I've read that by not sanding off the bottom section paint, as the stove gets hot during use, the paint wil bond the upper and lower sections together to prevent leaks. Not sure if true, but makes sense.
I do have some tools but not enough. I have seen a lot of guys make some alcohol stoves but i have to say you made you did not use any power tools how cool and thank you for showing us. Cool
Thanks for the comment, Gregory. I do have several videos showing using power tools to make some alcohol stoves but I had requests for this video using only easily available tools.
Yea and all the other guy's i had seen that's all hey used and seeing your method so easy and when i get my small work table donei will get ready to start trying to make something to work on
Lol, anyway! Nothing like the comment section to make somone feel more brave! I thought it was neat to see this because the film shows you can use the top of the can to make a spill proof stove! And you made it look good! 😂 Not my design! Love these stoves! Also you might have solved my seam problem, because the stove that I made is prepped within a seperate manner than these topped filled stoves that have a screen instead of drilled hole's! Push pins is not the way 🎉 Wow, you really refined how you build that! The tooth pick was amazing, honestly surprised!
You can flair the top part out on an old glass jar or bottle bottom way faster and smoother then on another can bottom. Also I cut the inner divider wall from the middel section of the can and not from a second can. That way you can reduce the tool list to a single cutter blade, spacer block and gloves. One side of the blade is for all the cutting work and the other is reserved for punching in the flame slides. Happy Christmas!
Yes, you should check out some of my other can stove videos to see me use the middle of a can for the inner wall. This video was showing different techniques. Happy Holidays!
That's pretty cool, great if one had to hack one without special tools. But I build models and have all sorts of tools. Will have to look for the build with not common tools.
I really don't like you but I don't like anyone I will note it was good of you to tackle this project for less unfortunate people I like projects like this and I thank you for your time you did not waste any of my time compared to all the other videos I have watched I suppose I could drink enough courage to say I salute
I like the idea of using a P.G. Wodehouse book and a pencil as a marking gage. I’ll have to try that. Also, crimping thin sheet metal by pressing it over a toothpick.
@@timcanthejigman7932 Now that you mention it, in addition to my Wodehouse collection, I have an enormous “Autobiography of Mark Twain” volume that would work for scribing any measurement up to about six inches.
just thought, why not put your utility knife blade page 165(?) and score all round the can a few times. I'm sure it'd cut it off and there's no need fo the marking stage.
That's definitely another way of doing it. I used to use straight blades (before I discovered hook blades) in between the pages of a book or screwed onto a block of wood before I came up with the adjustable jig. The jig could just as easily hold a straight utility blade but hook blades are about 482 times better. I flipped a coin on whether to use scissors or a straight utility blade for the video.
Thanks, Ronnie! That Sacramento brand is just one I get at a hotel I frequently stay at. It's the same diameter as most juice cans, something like 2 1/16".
Once you've scored the top, you can also cut from the hole in the top to the edge with scissors into tabs, and bend the tabs back and forth to snap them off. If the scored line is neat, the edge can start out tidier before smoothing it out.
You might be able to put the blade from the utility knife into the book and score your way through the can. You'd need to apply more pressure to the book to hold the blade in place, though.
Thanks, Kris. Yep, in some of my other soda can stove videos, I use hook blades to score the line. In this video, I was showing how to use scissors to do it
This is the prettiest one and very well made. But if you were stuck, you can make one with only a utility sliding blade or a swiss army knife. You just make the bottom part 1/4in taller and crimp the top part (16 crimps) and make only one hole about 1/16in diameter about 1/4in below the rim (this hole is needed to suck in air once a pot is set atop the rim). The top part could be 1 and 1/2 in tall also and thus by sitting inside the bottom part it becomes the inner wall. Only one can needed here. The beauty of this is that once you snuff out the flame and the stove has cooled, you just pull the top off and easily recover the unburned fuel. But that is difficult or impossible with all other designs. I found that all the different designs will bring a given quantity of water to boil in about the same time with the same fuel. There is no need for aluminium tape or glues of any kind. The next challenge I find is to create a stove with an adjustable flame. I have not come up with a design for that yet.
@@timcanthejigman7932 Hi have been collecting aluminium bottles and even Flovent containers (I have a friend who has asthma). Basically I want to work with the venturi effect like in an updraft carburator. I would like to be able to adjust the column of air as there is no float nor jetting involved here like in a carburator and I do not want to pressurize anything. I feel a preference to stick to basic tools and easily obtainable materials. The proper design goal I have in mind would use the venturi effect to help or enhance the vaporisation of the alcohol and adjust the flame by raising or lowering the "column" thus altering the venturi effect one way or another... This is not a new concept. Just never applied in alcohol stoves
You should find a piece of sheet metal and a mig welder and weld it to the top of the ammo can stove since the top keeps warping. This will make it more than a one time use stove.
I was kidding about it being a one-time use stove. I've burned in it several times and I don't find any evidence of it burning through or rusting. The top still locks down fine even being warped. I was really trying to avoid welding since that would take it out of reach of a lot of people who would otherwise want to make one. My actual biggest concern is now the aluminum legs since I subbed those in for the steel ones.
I actually came to make this stove (using a juice can for inner wall) on my own prior to seeing this video. I love how the bottom grabs the bottom of the soda can. But it always bothered me that the top of the inner wall didn't quite fit into the top groove of the soda can. I actually crumpled a coupe of inner walls at the top during assembly. I found that it didn't actually matter, because the pot sealed off the inner bowl anyway, but it just bothered me because it looked terrible when I saw the crease inside the stove. So I searched for a solution. I discovered that if you cut off the top of the juice can immediately below the lip, (about 1/8 inch from the top) the top of the cut exactly fits into the top groove of the soda can. But now the bottom of the juice can won't fit into the bottom of the groove of the soda can. So you just cut 16 (or 18, 20, 23, any number) slits 1/4 inch long in the bottom of the inner wall to make a series of tabs. The tabs then can fold slightly inward to overlap and join the bottom of the groove in the soda can. (This is also exactly how I fit the inner wall when making it from the same soda can.) Either way gives the same result, a nice tight seal at top and bottom, with no seam running up the entire height of the inner wall. All three inner wall types give similar results. About 4 tsp (20 ml) denatured alcohol boils two cups (475 ml) water in a 4" (101.5 mm) tin can in about 6.5-7.5 minutes. If I ty to use only 18 ml alcohol, it becomes very iffy to come to a full rolling boil. About half the time, it runs out at 205-210 ^F. 20 ml ensures a full rolling boil every time. This holds true both inside my sheltered garage and in the field with ground shield and windscreen. I have been very frustrated with this new hobby, as I have seen others in RU-vid videos claim rolling boil of 2 cups using as little as 13 ml of denatured alcohol. I have never once attained rolling boil with less than 18 ml alcohol, with any of the about 200 stoves I have made in the past 6 months. I've made SGT Rock Ion stoves, flat cat stoves, Roy Williams cat stoves, Pika stoves, Pepsi can stoves (like yours), capillary hoop stoves (which I love!) and many others. Most claim to recover around a half ounce of alcohol after boiling, but I've never consistently come to boil with less than 20 ml. Living in Florida, I'm usually starting with water anywhere from 75^F to 85-88^F. How in the world can these guys all get boils from 60^F water with 17 ml alcohol? It's very frustrating for me!
Thanks for the comments, xenaguy01! I never really paid attention to boil times or amount of alcohol used since those are both so subjective. What works inside my workshop doesn't translate to real field use in the winter after the stove, the alcohol, the pot and the water have all been kept in the cold overnight and I'm trying to boil water for breakfast. I just go for the most reliable stove and that's the common one-can12 oz. pop can stove. It's pretty bulletproof and with the jigs and templates, I can make them all day.
@@timcanthejigman7932 I don't actually sweat over boil times either, except as a measure of how much fuel I actually need per meal. That's important not because of the cost of fuel, but because I have to pack the fuel in, and pack any leftover fuel out. I figure that if I can boil 2 cups with 20 ml at home, I can probably boil 2 cups with 25 ml on the trail (barring exceptional circumstances). It's just very frustrating to me that, even in my garage, I can't get consistent boils of 2 cups with less than 18-20 ml of alcohol. That pretty much means I have to pack 25-30 ml per meal or risk running out of fuel on the last day. Aargh! 😖 This has worked out well, but I'd rather pack 20 ml alcohol per meal than 30, ya know?
If you simply take your utility knife and just go around and a around inside the grove, you will be able to pop out and almost perfect non-jagged circle that will need very little sanding. I've do it many times.
Good build. Only thing I saw wrong was when you decided to put the inner can in the opposite way, now the little notches to let fuel between the two walls are at the top.
At 17:45 I cut notches in the shaped end of the juice can and around 21:00 I put the pieces together, with the shaped end of the juice can going in the bottom. I'm not sure how you're seeing it differently?
Hey WolfeAdventures, I have videos on making an alcohol stove from a mini can and also from a juice can. Those have a smaller flame pattern and the ones I use when I'm boiling water in my narrow Stanley cook pot.
Hi, Roger. I didn't make it clear in the video but it's the same as most juice cans, 53 mm or about 2 1/16". It's the same as a V8 can. The short ones like I used are 5.5 ounces. I often stay at a hotel that has that Sacramento brand, there isn't anything special about it. Thanks for asking!
I've seen stoves with carbon felt inside, would this work in this stove? Would it improve this design if I put a strip of carbon felt inside? Thank you sir☺
Hey Santiago, I think I'll give that a try, putting it in between the outer and inner walls. I'll see if the wicking action gives some benefit. Thanks!
@@uncleho313 I've made a couple of videos about it if you check my channel. Here's a link to one of them where I do a test: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n2jXKB4pXTc.html
Carbon Felt is made from graphite. Wool Felt works too, but it has a slight odor some say. For heating carbon felt does work to conduct the heat but I'm leaving mine out so I can put food on the stove and not worry about chemical anything. Just my preference. You can get some stainless-steel soft mesh and wind some up inside the burner. I've heard that works or use copper mesh it gets really hot.
Love your stoves but better are your videos. I’m looking for a bottle like you have to carry the fuel. What material is it that the fuel doesn’t eventually melt?
Thanks, Brad! I found those plastic bottles at Walmart in the travel toiletries section. I haven't had any problem with them on dozens of overnighters.
As for fuel, only use denatured alcohol or yellow bottle Heet. Do not use rubbing alcohol. In another of my videos, I list the capacity of the different stoves made from different sizes cans. You'll want to practice with it at home to see how much alcohol it takes to boil a cup or two of water without having a lot left over.
Absolutely everyone makes basically a copy of the exact same thing. This was a good simple demo, but it’s basically the same, so I have a question. Is this scalable to make a larger, longer burning stove? Like would increasing the height make a larger reservoir, that would last longer, or is there something going on here that requires this size. One thing I find pretty annoying, or shall I say limiting, is they all burn for just a bit longer than the time it takes to boil a couple cups of water. I’d like something longer lasting.
did that exactly as you showed... burns Yellow with 91% Isopropyl (9% purified water), and the jets never start at all... bad fuel or do they have to 'burn in' for a while before they work?
Hey TheStraycat74, I just never use anything with "iso" in the name. Only use denatured alcohol which you can get in the paint department of a hardware or discount store or use Heet gas line anti-freeze in the automotive section. Those burn with a clean blue flame and no gumming or sooting up.
@@timcanthejigman7932 I am the one that Thank you was simple all data needed, to the point now find the cans (soda easy the juice here mmmmm odd continent) and have a very good one
Can you place some carbon felt or insulation inside some how to prevent spills ? If so , can you just add some inside on the bottom or does it have to be inside the outer wall?
Hey Jedi, I would put carbon felt around the inside perimeter of the stove before I assembled the pieces together. To be clear, I don't use it myself anymore. I don't think there is enough benefit to be had that outweighs the additional difficulty of using it. I did see your comment on the other video. I haven't experimented with carbon felt for a few years now. You have good questions. It sounds like you may want to pick up where I left off. Thanks!
It depends on which size can you want to use. I have videos on my channel where I make stoves from juice cans, mini cans, 12 oz cans and Fosters beer cans. They're all the same style, which is the only one I now make for my own use.
It should be good for around 20 minutes. I only use denatured alcohol. I never use isopropyl alcohol because it has impurities that make it burn dirty and it will soot up your stove and pots.
Hi Jo and great question! Initially, it's just the friction between the two pieces because it's a pretty tight fit. After the first burn, the paint on the bottom piece melts from the heat and glues the stove together. It's nearly impossible to separate after you've used it. Thanks for asking!
Hey Jude, you absolutely can use it inside for cooking but I would only use denatured alcohol. It burns cleanly with water vapor as a by-product. I wouldn't use rubbing alcohol as it won't burn cleanly. It creates a nasty, sticky residue on your stove and your pot.
If you used the top of the can and insert that inside the bottom piece and that could be a default internal heater wall. but more effectively is the reduced diameter tin or use an earlier off cut with two interlocking cuts to make the inner wall But WHY cut the top out of the can?
Thank you but still way to complicated. I just watched another video and it simplified the process much more. Why remove the paint from the can in the first place?
You don't need it be exact it's not rocket science, put a hole on the tin on every opposite side and between also in opposite sides and done 👍 between 14 holes and something it's OK.
