I want to make a small, backpack sized winarski rocket stove. I've got everything I need except the vermiculite. Hope to get started soon.
Wayland: Looks like you have a substantial amount of pirate gear, and I might add some very nice looking gear at that.
Note to anyone wanting to make a pepsi can stove: First of all, get the templates from the Zen Stove website -- they are excellent. Secondly, there are two basic types of pepsi can stoves, the open topped kind and the closed top, double walled kind. Of the closed top, double walled variety, there are 2 versions: The top burner and the side burner. My advice to you, is that the materials are so easy to come by, make all of them.
Don't mess about trying to bond them together, as some websites call for. Simply press fit them together with your hands. Put the bottom can on the OUTSIDE and they will never leak. Believe it or not I've seen them made the other way around.
Also, never mind the putting of insulation or vermiculite in the can or between the walls of the can. Totally unnecessry, and can reduce efficiency. I've made them both ways.
I have made and given away many of these stoves. So, I have some experience here.
The biggest problem I had was experimenting with burner hole size. Some of the things that you will be told on the internet are rubbish. Some, (certainly not all) of the stoves on youtube and other stove videos, are working so poorly it is laughable.
Hole size is most critical on side burners. Too big, and you will melt your stove. Trust me I've done it.
The best thing that I have found is simply to locate someone who sells Dremel tools. They will have various accessories, one of which is a set of tiny drill bits. The smallest bit in the case is perfect. I like about 24 equidistant holes.
Good luck. If you play around with it long enough, you will end up with a stove that is amazingly light, much stronger than you would ever imagine, cost you little of nothing, and works so fantastically well your friends will be amazed. By the way they are very fuel efficient.
Some last random thoughts: Open top stoves do not need a priming pan. Closed top stoves do. I use a canning jar lid. It takes very little fuel to prime. Just a few drops.
get a small plastic (so it wont break) graduated cylinder and measure your fuel. Practice, and time with a watch until you know how much fuel you need to do a given job. Say, boil a cup of water for tea.
I don't save my left over alcohol (meths). My reasoning, and it may be incorrect, is that the left over fuel may be more watery than what you started out with. That the alcohol may separate from the water as it is heating and leave an excess of water behind. Perhaps someone with a degree in chemistry might confirm or deny this. This is the reason you want to measure your fuel, have enough plus a bit extra and no more. Less waste.
In cold weather, you may find that the ground is wicking away the heat from the stove and it may falter and not generate gas well. The cure is simple,you have to insulate the bottom of the can. Almost any, poor heat conductor will work. So far my most elegant solution is to glue a foam padded mouse pad onto the bottom of the can and then use a razor blade, exacto knife etc to trim off the excess. Stays with the stove. protects one side of it, and works great.
Unless your fairly mechanical, your first stove will probably not be too pretty and may not work well, just keep making them until you get it right. (I like to cut the cans in two with a dremel tool with a heavy duty disk.)
for forgery.
