New stove, mild or stainless steel

[Greenbeast]

I've got a couple of hobo stoves but recently needed to cook two pans simultaneously and found it a bit awkward trying to tend the two pans while also contantly feeding wood into 2 stoves.

So i'm looking to create something yukon-esqe but wide enough to allow two pans side by side.

I'm on a budget and so... can i use mild steel for this and what would be the min recommended thickness?

I'm thinking of making it 30-40cm across

 

[durulz]

I'm not really sure of the thing you are trying to make (yukon-esque?) - do you have any pictures?

Generally speaking, mild steel will rust considerably faster than stainless if you are using it as a stove.

 

[Greenbeast]

oh sorry, over on SotP a guy makes a 'Yukon' firebox

I didn't think that it might not be so familiar over here:

http://www.canoepaddler.me.uk/yukon.htm

 

[Shewie]

I got a 600x600mm sheet of 0.9mm stainless for £18 from the local metal supermarket.

I've been doing some sketches of how I can put something together and it's looking quite promising. A bit of a mix of a Honey and Yukon

My Ti Yukon is the mutts but sometimes I wish I had something a bit bigger.

 

[Greenbeast]

I'm at the sketch stage too

I would still use my little hobo when just out canoeing or fishing or a quick brew while camping but if i want to cook a 2-pan meal the firebox idea would protect the ground and be more efficient than an open fire.

Do you reckon 0.9mm is thick enough?
What sort of size sheets will you end up with? i'm thinking of warping with heat, presumably thicker metal is better than thinner for this

 

[durulz]

Oh, I see.
I have something like that (called a nimblewill stove).
I would use something between 0.8 and 1.00mm stainless steel. I would leave mild steel alone. Exact gauge will depend on how big you make it. Mine's about 6" square. There has been some slight warping, but nothing serious and nothing that stops it going together. And nothing that can't be bent back into shape. Obviously, the bigger you make it, the heavier the gauge. And the heavier it weighs.
Getting hold of sheet stainless is quite cheap and easy - I got a couple of (A4 sized) pieces from a local sheet metal workers for nothing! Mind you, I did get through a fair number of Dremel cutting discs...

 

[rik_uk3]

I'm not really sure of the thing you are trying to make (yukon-esque?) - do you have any pictures?

Generally speaking, mild steel will rust considerably faster than stainless if you are using it as a stove.

Yukon style stove here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yukon-Tent-St...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06a05a3d

You need to wipe them over with an oily rag after your camp or just use a little wire wool on them to remove any rust that may have formed.

 

[Greenbeast]

I've got access to a bandsaw but need to factor in a decent metal cutting blade in my expenditure

I'm thinking of 20cm deep (front to back) by about 35-40cm wide

 

[Greenbeast]

Yukon style stove here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yukon-Tent-St...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a06a05a3d

You need to wipe them over with an oily rag after your camp or just use a little wire wool on them to remove any rust that may have formed.

Sorry, this isn't what i'm referring to, the above link i provided shows what i mean

 

[Neumo]

If I wanted to make a Hot Plate to fit on top of my Honey Stove (standard one or with the GB new super size one), then what thickness of stainless would I need? A mate is a metal worker so could probably knock one of these up for me. I have no idea but I am guess 1 to 2mm would do the job?

Sorry for the slight hijack, but the hotplate option on that Youkon stove has got me thinking.....

 

[ged]

... thinking of 20cm deep (front to back) by about 35-40cm wide

You can certainly use mild steel (think of all the tin cans used to make hobo stoves ) but you might not need to.

Many stainless steels aren't hideously expensive. If you're making something as big as that then you might find that it can be almost as cheap to make it from thin stainless as it is to make it from thicker mild steel. You will probably want the steel to be thicker if it isn't stainless to allow for some corrosion.

Do you know any local metal fabricators who work with stainless steels? They will most likely have off cuts that have been cut using a guillotine. They will probably throw them in the scrap bin. Just go and ask. You may also find that the scrap is much better material than you would buy if you were paying good money for it. I've made all sorts of things from 316 scrap from a local fabricator.

Do you have access to a folder? I would think that at the sort of size you're thinking of you would start to suffer from flexing of the sheet metal unless either it is fairly thick or it has some sort of stiffening. You will also notice distortion more with bigger panels. If you can put folds in the metal you can make it much stiffer. Look at the door panels of any motor car for an idea of what I mean. If you can make formers from something like pieces of thick angle and a couple of G-cramps then you can put a fold say 1/4" deep on the edge(s) of the sheet. This will make a sheet of 1mm material nearly as stiff as a piece of 6mm material, but it still only weighs about the same as a piece 1mm thick. Alternatively you can fix stiffening ribs to the sheet, either strips welded on or a piece of angle with bolts.

 

[Greenbeast]

Good idea about the scraps, i will investigate!

I don't believe i have access to a folder unfortunately

 

[helixpteron]

Ebay is a good source for metals, I've bought 0.20mm thick titanium sheet and several metres of aluminium sheet at very good prices, there's usually a good selection of metal types, shapes and thicknesses too.

 

[Hugo]

Your local dump will probably have plenty of stuff made of stainless.
Things like stainless peddle bins, I picked one up a few weeks ago thinking I could make a good stove, as usual it's sitting in my garage along with plenty of other projects.

 

[johnboy]

Do you reckon 0.9mm is thick enough?
What sort of size sheets will you end up with? i'm thinking of warping with heat, presumably thicker metal is better than thinner for this

Hi,

I'd be inclined to copy the thickness of material used in the stove you linked to.

On another page he quotes 1.6mm. I'd assume that they have made a few prototypes and 1.6mm in SS was the best...

http://www.canoepaddler.me.uk/fireboxes.htm

Cheers

John

 

[Greenbeast]

fair point!

 

[ged]

Hi there,

Just a thought -- have you ever worked with stainless? If not it's going to be an education.

It's very different from mild steel. Harder to cut and a lot harder to drill. You can't flame cut it, but plasma will work. You need to make sure cutting tools like saw blades and drills don't overheat which will destroy them in seconds. Ideally you'd have different drills for stainless but you can use standard HSS drills if you're careful. Make sure the drill feeds consistently while cutting so it doesn't skip. Stainless conducts heat far less well than mild steel which is one reason that the cutting surfaces get hotter. You really need a coolant.

There's a lot of help available on the Internet, for example

http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/powertools/drillfaq.htm

Have fun!

 

[Greenbeast]

thankyou for that

 

[lamper]

My Ti Yukon is the mutts but sometimes I wish I had something a bit bigger.

Should I just start searching for Shewie + Ti or Titanium?

I'm quite interested in this one mate. Own creation or bought in?

EDIT: Found a Ti "Nomad" on the SOTP guy's site.