Making an Ammo Box Stove - step by step tutorial

[jon r]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share this with you.

I've just finished making this stove from a '50 Cal' ammo can. I made it as a source of heating for inside my canvas bell tent, it should be ideal for winter camping when temperatures drop below zero. Also, I just thought it would be a fun thing to make!

People have made such stoves in many different ways. They are mostly used in colder climates like Canada and Scandinavia. The step by step I have written shows my own design, bear in mind that this is the first stove I have ever made, I am not an expert where stove use and design is concerned so the design may not necessarily be the best. Before I get bombarded with safety warnings, that is covered in the article too...

My full step by step article on how I made this can be seen on my website here:
http://www.jonsbushcraft.com/ammo-can-stove.htm

 

[david1]

"Beating the metal hardens it. To prevent the metal from splitting it needs to be softened again by heating it up until cherry red. Once cooled the metal can be worked again (this softening process is called annealing). I removed it from the wooden form each time I did this."

I agree with your version of Annealing but on another site they brought the metal to cherry red then tipped it into water. does this not harden it ?

 

[Tomcoles]

I love this idea and have a friend with a metal fabrication shop where I worked for a while. I am gonna make one


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jon r]

"Beating the metal hardens it. To prevent the metal from splitting it needs to be softened again by heating it up until cherry red. Once cooled the metal can be worked again (this softening process is called annealing). I removed it from the wooden form each time I did this."

I agree with your version of Annealing but on another site they brought the metal to cherry red then tipped it into water. does this not harden it ?

dipping it in water afterwards probably would re-harden the metal to some degree but I expect as this is not hi carbon metal, it wouldn't go super hard... but then again i'm not an expert. Maybe best to leave it to cool down slowly if you have the patience.

 

[BILLy]

Saved in my favourites !!
Really ingenious
Well done for doing it, and sharing it with us.
Love it

 

[woodstock]

A very neat job looks great let us know if it performs as well as it looks.

 

[Russell96]

That is a superb tutorial and thank you for sharing. I will be making one of those!
Russ

 

[andybysea]

Great job and interesting looking at the work that went into each stage.

 

[bopdude]

Great idea and design Thanks for sharing it with us.

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

 

[Whittler Kev]

best I've seen for a while

 

[British Red]

Great to see you back on the forum Jon

 

[Mesquite]

That's a really good tutorial Jon

Were you using steel or ali pop rivets?

 

[Twodogs]

Outstanding Jon

Nice one
Twodogs

 

[John Fenna]

Inspirational - as usual!

 

[sgtoutback]

excellent work, as always.

 

[jon r]

I presume they are aluminium pop rivets. Hopefully they'll last... no problems so far.

Im pleased you all like the article, it took tome time to put together. Great to hear some of you will have a go at this too. Only thing to consider is that the cost can add up with the flue pipes, ammo box, rivets, sheet metal, fire rope etc...

That's a really good tutorial Jon

Were you using steel or ali pop rivets?

 

[Everything Mac]

Excellent guide. Very easy to follow.

Decent heat output?

 

[ozzy1977]

Nice tutorial, there was a few of us discussing these at the weekend I wont be surprised if there are a few more made soon

 

[TinkyPete]

Great Stove and awesome tutorial there as well

 

[ceryni]

ALL of those of you who have some doubt as what to happens to metals when they are heat treated, hardening, annealing, normalising, and tempering among others, should google it and watch this little video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulfCxDsVTWo