Ultralight Stove

[Ducky]

Well my wife left me alone on my day off for the second day in a row. One thing led to another and I ended up making my own version of an alcohol stove.
I have made one of these before but it had some anoying design flaws that I wanted to fix.
It is made entirley out of aluminum. The side walls are two layers of aluminum. This paired with the convex shape of the top and bottoms makes this thing extreamly strong.
The bottom half has a flat bottom so you can use ESBIT tablets if you like.
The whole in the middle is the fill hole. Just pour your fule into the dish untill it fills up to the point where there is a little puddle in the bottom. Throw a spark on the pool and it will prime, once it burns down a little the flame will come out the burnner holes.
I will post some burn pictures latter






That says 1 1/8 oz

So what do you think?

[skeet]

That. Is. Beautiful.

[111t]

Indeed you are powerful as the emperor predicted.

[Woods Walker]

Indeed you are powerful as the emperor predicted.

Yes the force is strong with this one.

[Ducky]

Ok I got some burn in pics. Had to wait for it to get dark(i'll go over that later)
I didn't time any of this. I may try and tackle a video and actualy boil some water. It depends on if you all want it or not.
Here it is just lit

Burnners just lit

Great flame pattern

I wanted to take a minuet to talk saftey.
I was using Methanol as my fule but most alcohols used in these stoves will be invisibul when they burn in the light.
Always be very carefull when you use these because it really sucks when you knock one over and you can't tell what is on fire. (personal experience)
For example, here is the same stove still burning


Close up

From above

Nice thing about the aluminum is it cools off fast.
This was about 40 seconds after it burned itself out. (and its still pretty )

[spoolup]

Nicely done, really like the craftsmanship and finishing effort put forth in this. Bravo for your efforts Sir! I love the smell of burning nirto methane in the morning. MMM MMM MMM, brings a slight tear to your eyes. I need to get out to the track more often.

Again, great job!

[Ducky]

Im thinking of making more of these. Would any of you be interested in one?
I was thinking $25

[Ducky]

Dose anyone know how to Anodize?
I think these would look really cool in red, or a dark green. ooo or blue. LOL

[111t]

red will get you put under special observation @ Jedi academy

[MaddogOIF]

you have my attention. are we talking $25 + S/H?

[xxxDarksidexxx]

good looking stove! i like that you took the time to make it look nice... anyone can just mash soda cans together and punch a few holes in it and call it done.

you can find a ton of info on the webs about DIY anodizing. you can buy pre made kits, but they can cost a bit of coin. you can build your own kit, and buy the chemicals and colors from the web and get it done MUCH cheaper. anodizing is not a very complicated process.

25.00 for just the stove i sold several of my stoves along with the pot stand / wind screen to guys on another forum for 25.00! maybe i was giving away too much stove and not getting enough money!

[111t]

You've posted that before right Darkside? I don't know if i mentioned it before, but i think that's a very clever use of the computer fan cover! Also, I like the burner preheat tray.

@Ducky:

The hand made alcohol stove business is a hard gig to crack into. The pricing is the key and it's deceptively complicated IMO. The basics are to figure out what your cost is in time, materials and equipment, then figure your markup. Then you need to look at the competition and see where you 'place' yourself in the market. In my opinion this is where it gets really complicated for you. You've got established sellers such as minibull designs and white box stoves to deal with along with others that i'm sure must be out there but haven't noticed... and don't forget the biggest name in alcohol stoves, Trangia.The current trangia burner which sells the burner with sealing cap and simmer ring for less than $20. Now you say 'but my stove is MUCH lighter!' And what i would say is that some people are better gram weenies than others. This should focus your attention at those folks who take the weight differences of their kit very seriously. (not that we shouldn't all take it more seriously... but i personally consider a trangia burner alone a pretty lightweight setup.) If you haven't picked up a trangia to study, i think you should. There have been a lot of innovations in alcohol stoves over the last 20 years, but more often than you would think, i see something in the trangia that seems better thought out. One of the more clever things i've seen is a little stainless 'T' that fits over the open end of the consumer trangia to make it a self contained burner.

With time you establish a reputation (good or bad) that also influences what you can charge as well.

Anyway, good luck.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

You've posted that before right Darkside? I don't know if i mentioned it before, but i think that's a very clever use of the computer fan cover!

yeah it was posted here before. the first one i ever made used an old fan cover i had. i tend to keep things as i may have a use for it down the road ( like a stupid computer fan screen ) with all the junk i keep on hand i could easily be a cluttered pack rat, but i go to great lenghts to stay organized . i have since ordered 20 fan screens for cheap from some liquidation company, so i can make more if i want.

besides one can never have enough extra computer fan screens on hand!

[MaddogOIF]

in a pinch would something like zippo lighter fluid work

[Ducky]

you have my attention. are we talking $25 + S/H?

Yea, I figured once I had an address I would go see how much it cost to ship it there. Insted of of how some of these crooked web stoors do it. Sell you a $10 item and charge you $20 shipping. *jerks*

I will sell/make the pot stand/windscreen as well but I have to have the OD of your pot because they are made to fit.

Here are some pictures of my potstand/windscreen with the first stove I built



The tabs on the inside support the pot.
The whole thing has some spring to it so it clamps on around the pot for a good fit, that way when you fill it with water it dosn't spread appart and fall out.
The gap is usefull if you need more air you can turn it into the wind and allow more air to get in.
I would also need the height of the pot because I try and make it to where the stand will store inside of the pot with the lid closed and still have enough room for the flames to do their job.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

The hand made alcohol stove business is a hard gig to crack into. The pricing is the key and it's deceptively complicated IMO. The basics are to figure out what your cost is in time, materials and equipment, then figure your markup. Then you need to look at the competition and see where you 'place' yourself in the market. In my opinion this is where it gets really complicated for you. You've got established sellers such as minibull designs and white box stoves to deal with along with others that i'm sure must be out there but haven't noticed... and don't forget the biggest name in alcohol stoves, Trangia.The current trangia burner which sells the burner with sealing cap and simmer ring for less than $20. Now you say 'but my stove is MUCH lighter!' And what i would say is that some people are better gram weenies than others. This should focus your attention at those folks who take the weight differences of their kit very seriously. (not that we shouldn't all take it more seriously... but i personally consider a trangia burner alone a pretty lightweight setup.) If you haven't picked up a trangia to study, i think you should. There have been a lot of innovations in alcohol stoves over the last 20 years, but more often than you would think, i see something in the trangia that seems better thought out. One of the more clever things i've seen is a little stainless 'T' that fits over the open end of the consumer trangia to make it a self contained burner.

i agree 100% if i thought i could make a million on a soda can stove i would be trying. IMO it will be damn hard to beat trangia... its just too good of a stove! no doubt the OP could sell a few stoves here and there, like i did. i made a few bucks, and most was all profit.

[Ducky]

Yea, I dont expect to get rich. lol
but if i make a few bucks along the way im cool with that.

in a pinch would something like zippo lighter fluid work

I dont know if lighter fluid would work.
Obvously the gas stuff wouldnt but the liquid might. I will pick some up and let you know if it blows up. lol

[Sealegs]

You've posted that before right Darkside? I don't know if i mentioned it before, but i think that's a very clever use of the computer fan cover! Also, I like the burner preheat tray.

Sign me up as well for some of that preheating love. To quote Loesser and (gasp) both Dean Martin and Tom Jones, Baby, it's cold outside.

[Ducky]

you have my attention. are we talking $25 + S/H?

Im feeling generous.
I'll do $25 and i'll take care of the shipping as long as your in the US.
(if you are in Alaska I will be up there in July)
Oh and one other thing, if you are one of the first you have to do a review and post it on here.

[MaddogOIF]

you have my attention. are we talking $25 + S/H?

Im feeling generous.
I'll do $25 and i'll take care of the shipping as long as your in the US.
(if you are in Alaska I will be up there in July)
Oh and one other thing, if you are one of the first you have to do a review and post it on here.

not too much of a problem except... i'm stationed over seas

[Ducky]

in a pinch would something like zippo lighter fluid work

Gasoline/vodka/kerosene/lighterfluid will work and will create a flame.
PROS: will hold a flame
will cook your food
You can see the flame

Cons: Large unruly flame
Lots of soot(lot)
Might light everyhting around it on fire
Watch out for fule sputtering out

[Confucius]

Nice looking stove.

Don't run gasoline/kerosene/lighterfluid/naphthalene in them. It may work, but chances are really good for it to start melting the aluminum and turn into a massive fireball.

[111t]

Better to stick with alcohol in alcohol stoves.

In a pinch with petroleum products i have heard that a sand filled tin can can be a good improvised burner.

One thing that I have discovered is that coleman fuel works fine in a zippo. In fact it works so fine that i couldn't tell the difference. I'm not necessarily saying that zippo/ronson fluid be used in white gas stoves. But... if you are running white gas in your cookstoves, zippos could have a place in your gear for a minor amount of additional fuel. The lighter could be left unfueled in storage, and then fueled up when the lighter is needed.

[Ducky]

I wasn't saying that I recomend regularly using alternat fules.
I do however recomend trying some out. This way you know for certain how your stove will react in the case that you run out of your normal fule.