Simon stove

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Ahjno

Vice-Adminral
Admin
Aug 9, 2004
6,861
51
Rotterdam (NL)
www.bushcraftuk.com
leon-1 said:
Johan, as soon as I have verifiable data to post I will, I'll also get a few pictures up as well, this may take some time as the coming weekend is already spoken for, but i'll try to get some bits up next week. :)

Cheers mate!
Take your time with those picies, I will keep an eye on this thread.

Watch your eyebrowes when you set that stove alight :yikes:
 

ditchfield

Nomad
Nov 1, 2003
305
0
36
Somerset
I've made 2 stoves from V8 cans, but yesterday was the 1st time ive tested them (well I only tryed one). It was a failure. It is based on the Halcon stove design which is very simple and made out of one can. I managed to get it lit so that the fuel was burning in the center, but it wouldn't move to the outside jets. I suppose i'll try a more complex design.
 

Realgar

Nomad
Aug 12, 2004
327
1
W.midlands
I've been looking at those pressure stove designs as well - can anyone suggest suitable glues that I could pick up from the average DIY in the UK. The only glue I know that does decent temps is a mix of sodium silicate and calcium carbonate and it's not exactly fast setting.

Realgar
 

Martyn

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 7, 2003
5,252
33
58
staffordshire
www.britishblades.com
Yep - JB Weld is available from Halfords - they also do aluminium adhesive tape.

Dont use JB Kwick, it's not got the same temperature rating and the full pukka JB Weld.

note: JB Weld is also excellent in cutlery construction.
 

Realgar

Nomad
Aug 12, 2004
327
1
W.midlands
Halfords - ok, looks like I actually have to brave going into town. Or possibly raid the workshop caliming I need it for the Xray machine or something.....

By the way - why does the Trangia stove require you to add 25% water to the fuel?

Realgar
 

Martyn

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 7, 2003
5,252
33
58
staffordshire
www.britishblades.com
Realgar said:
Halfords - ok, looks like I actually have to brave going into town. Or possibly raid the workshop caliming I need it for the Xray machine or something.....

By the way - why does the Trangia stove require you to add 25% water to the fuel?

Realgar

It doesnt require it, but it burns with a more blue flame if you add 10% - 20% water. I think it burns a bit cooler, but the flame is much better and doesnt soot up yer pots nearly as much. I havent done a boil test to see how it affects performance, I would imagine a *bit8 slower to boil - but water is pretty cheap. ;)
 

leon-1

Full Member
Well today I started of with the intention of trying to get a new stove built overnight, so these are the bits that i started with
detail
 

leon-1

Full Member
Well tonight I started making a new stove, with the intention of putting up photos of it's progress as I went, but I have just hit a hickup, the cans that I normally use are red rooster cans and they were steel, they now appear to be aluminium :?:

So the really small stoves may be a no go untill I find another supplier of steel tin cans that are of the correct size, this does not affect anyone who is making a normal photon stove as the steel cans that you use for them are easily available as 7up, pepsi or shandy bass cans, but it has left me a little peeved :aargh4: cause I recckon I could have got the whole thing done tonight apart from allowing the JB Weld to cure.

Oh well it just means that tomorrow I can get on with a full sized one that I am making :wink: and get on with the trials for the mini one that is already made :)
 

leon-1

Full Member
Martyn said:
My variant doesnt use the "top lip" method. So the can with the burner holes is the outer can. I'm relying on a priming dish to get the stove up to temp. I take it the rooster can fits inside the puree can?

Sorry Martyn, should of answered this before, yes it does, but not with ease, I have just tried it with the alu can and it actually gives quite a good fit on the outside of the puree can, I had forgotten that configration and may well try it for the next one if I can get another steel tin to work with :biggthump.

The only thing that worries me about it is that with the internal top tin the heat from the jets heat the top of the outer tin perpetuating the the gas transfer, I dont know how well the other method would work, but thanks for the idea, now all I need is a ready supply of tins :eek:):
 

leon-1

Full Member
Well this is how the mini photon stove started life
P1010037Small.jpg


This is what it looks like now
P1010055Small.jpg


This is it next to the original, it is slightly taller, but it weighs less and has a similair fuel capacity.
P1010056Small.jpg


There will be a few details to follow as I am off now to do a few tests :wink:
 

Martyn

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 7, 2003
5,252
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staffordshire
www.britishblades.com
Damn Leon, we must've been separated at birth. I've just finished glueing together "Martyn's mini photon" and should be ready for testing later tonight or maybe tomorrow. I took pics of all the construction steps for a "how-to" if it comes together well and works properly.

it started as....
mmp001.jpg


after some work...

mmp006.jpg


a tight squeeze...

mmp010.jpg


and...

mmp013.jpg


nearly there....

...you'll have to wait for the full set of over 20 construction pics and the how-to ...that's assuming it doesnt blow up.
 

leon-1

Full Member
Well I have just finished a test, this is the kit that was used on my back patio on a blustery Tuesday afternoon,
P1010057Small.jpg


my normal pan set (cheap Gelert) with 600ml of water, obviously the stove, mineralised meths from focus (with my normal fuel bottles next to it), an MSR windshield (the other one is for a 10cm pot which I am waiting for), a syringe (so I could accurately gauge the amount of meths used) and a container to collect the meths from (bottom half of another stove in the making).

I used thirty five ml in the stove and 3ml to preheat, lighting is a doddle.
P1010058Small.jpg


after twenty seconds,
P1010060Small.jpg


after 4mins 20secs,
P1010062Small.jpg


and this is what it was like inside at around 10 seconds later,
P1010063Small.jpg


it burned for a total of 17mins 42 seconds with a fuel load of 35ml which means five or six meal sessions out of one 200ml drinks bottle. The flame reduces to a lower level that you can simmer on after about 8 mins.

When it was originally setup it was a little quicker, which would mean that the jets are probably a little sooted up, but you could probably get around this by using a little water in the meths.

All in all it isn't a bad little stove considering it weighs virtually nothing and cost pretty much the same. :wink:
 

leon-1

Full Member
Martyn said:
Damn Leon, we must've been separated at birth.

We do appear to be on a similair wavelength, you must have been writing that as I was writing the other, however your presentation is better than mine :biggthump, I tend to leave the paint on as it helps to prevent rusting on the steel constructin of the ones that I have been building.
 

PC2K

Settler
Oct 31, 2003
511
1
37
The Netherlands, Delft
i got this lazy thing of just keeping with my trusty halcon DIY stove. Saves me the hassel of pre-heating too. i got to say that that setup looks like me, except i use a trangia or halcon stove and my pan is a snowpeak track 900.

those proton's looks good, though.
 

sargey

Mod
Mod
Member of Bushcraft UK Academy
Sep 11, 2003
2,695
8
cheltenham, glos
i've been using pepsican burners for a few years now. i reckon that the windshield makes all the difference. it's as much the heart of the trangia as the burner.

i took my trusty halcon stove with disposeable barbeque potstand and shield on the woodsmoke nomad course a couple of weeks back, we had some pretty horrendous conditions. it's definately all the stove you'll ever need. turn the burner up side down for use with solid fuel tablets.

leon, i have found that you don't need to bother with a nut and bolt to hold the stand together, just bend it into a "C" shape and you can adjust it to suit various size pots. the only problems i have had with them is sometimes they can be a bit unstable, being able to pull the stand wider when you can't find a flat patch can be a boon.

a friend of mine made me a stand from aluminium, it melted and bent when used with hexy blocks.

i did some experiments with burn times and so on a while ago and posted them on another forum.

esbit stove &c.

cheers, and.
 

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