DIY wood gas stove

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Dannytsg

Native
Oct 18, 2008
1,825
6
England
Seen as the weather is a bit torrential here today I decided to build a DIY wood gas stove after watching this video:

http://youtu.be/BxODae_BS74

Items required:
1 small tin can
1 large tin can
1 small metal drill bit
1 large metal drill bit
1 file
Tin snips

How to build this is covered in the above video and it took me all of 10mins to build.

Here are some photos of mines

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Tinders being used are, cotton wool with Vaseline, dry grass and feathered sticks

5d64b092fe6575e56397aa8f8e903a69.jpg

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All in all it works really well and will be ideal for brewing up with
 

Bishop

Full Member
Jan 25, 2014
1,716
691
Pencader
NIcely done, these are brilliant little twig eating stoves for getting a brew on, made a couple of these before biting the bullet and getting the bigger 'Wildstoves' ready made version.
Took a while to break old hobo stove habits and light it from the top and fascinating to watch in action as they suck the heavy smoke down then once mixed with incoming air at the base feed it back between the walls to the holes at the top of the inner can where it burns.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Why are there no holes around the inside top rim? Or am I missing something? As I understand it the smoke and incoming air mix and then come out of those holes to burn, but I don't see them in the pictures.........
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
NIcely done, these are brilliant little twig eating stoves for getting a brew on, made a couple of these before biting the bullet and getting the bigger 'Wildstoves' ready made version.
Took a while to break old hobo stove habits and light it from the top and fascinating to watch in action as they suck the heavy smoke down then once mixed with incoming air at the base feed it back between the walls to the holes at the top of the inner can where it burns.

Well in that case should the flames be sprouting from inside the can. Should the interior can have only holes at the top then so you cook the wood rather than burning it?
 

bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
Well in that case should the flames be sprouting from inside the can. Should the interior can have only holes at the top then so you cook the wood rather than burning it?


No, the inside can should have large holes at the bottom and smaller holes around the top, not sure on the science bit but it works.
 

Dave-the-rave

Settler
Feb 14, 2013
638
1
minsk
The inner can should have small holes all the way round. I think the OP has some but maybe could have a lot more. Ya want flame coming through there like a gas cooker. Also the inner tin should be shorter than the outer to allow air flow underneath, The OP has it so but a shorter inner tin may work better. The other option is to keep that inner tin just as it is and put something inside, like gauze to raise the fire, again allowing more airflow under the fire.

Built right they can out perform the £50 Wild Gas Wood Gas Stove, or whatever it's called.
 

Dannytsg

Native
Oct 18, 2008
1,825
6
England
Thanks for the input and comments. As it stands mine boils a brew in 3 minutes which is fast enough for my liking. The inner can has small holes in the base and 2 layers of 3/8" holes drilled around the side to allow air flow into the fire. The larger external is also drilled around the sides with 3/8" holes. I have a video of it burning nicely but tapatalk wouldn't let me upload it from my phone for some reason.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
How many holes are there at the top of the inner can? Those are the ones I can't see........

My comments are purely out of interest, whatever you've made, if you're boiling a brew in three minutes you've built a fine stove, without a doubt :)
 

Teepee

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 15, 2010
4,115
5
Northamptonshire
Nice work Danny. :) They are great fun to play around with aren't they?


If anyone is interested in getting the hole sizes and ratios correct, there are few simple rules;

The area of inlet holes in the outer can should equal the area of inner can top and bottom holes.
The area of holes in the bottom of the inner can should be roughly a third of the top holes.


With no air resistance, the accurate ratio is 5 to 1 top to bottom but there is air resistance so the 3-1 ratio gets pretty close.
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Nice work Danny. :) They are great fun to play around with aren't they?


If anyone is interested in getting the hole sizes and ratios correct, there are few simple rules;

The area of inlet holes in the outer can should equal the area of inner can top and bottom holes.
The area of holes in the bottom of the inner can should be roughly a third of the top holes.


With no air resistance, the accurate ratio is 5 to 1 top to bottom but there is air resistance so the 3-1 ratio gets pretty close.

The 3-1 ratio is what I used to make my stainless steel jobby; I got a set of three nesting containers, used the smallest inside the largest for the stove and the middle sized one as a billy which fits upside down between the walls for carry; with a ss trivet from BPL, it's a really great little set. I made it over three years ago and use it four or five days a week continuously since then without the slightest problem. I love it :)
 

haytor7

Tenderfoot
Dec 23, 2014
66
0
devon
so if I drill ten 9mm holes in the top of the inner can
then I drill ten 3mm holes in the bottom of the inner can.

and drill ten 12mm in the bottom of the outer can..?

erm,,,, I've forgot now,, oh yeah,

would that be the correct ratio'
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
It's peaceful, contemplative and keeps me grounded in a way that other stove systems don't. I do have a couple of meths stoves that I use with some degree of pleasure, but it's just not the same.........

The set of canisters I bought were catering-grade thick walled 306 stainless ( I think it's 306 ) and although a bugger to drill neatly the stove shows no sign of immenent demise, I'm happy to say.

I'm very lucky to be able to eat breakfast in the woods 5 or 6 days a week and have fallen into a nice little way of things with the twigs...........Zen? :)
 

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