Tin can (DIY) ministoves...looking for a good design

[TSP]

Has anyone built a mini 'tin can' wood-burning stove that is simple and works well...as in burns wood efficiently and lasts more than a few minutes?  Winter's here and I thought I'd build a cheapo version for taking the chill off my hands while shooting in the back yard and working on projects in the garage (small open door garage...subfreezing temps get mighty cold on bare fingers).  Lots of versions on You**** and they look like a fun project but would like to find out which design works best without needing to make a dozen of them.  Not interested in buying a fancy one, just in building a simple 'hobo stove' version with simple components.

Thanks for any experience you can offer.

[wingnut]

look for rocket stove or tornado stove.  They are great designs that really put out the heat.

Mike

[ChuckC]

I'm watching too
ChuckC

[Roger Norris]

I wrote an article once describing a homemade "hobo stove". Not much more than a coffee can with some venting and a small front door to feed scraps of bark and wood into.

I will try and find some pictures. It was primitive, but it worked.

[TSP]

Thanks for the replies.  There seems to be lots of designs for this type of stove, probably because they don't cost hardly anything in materials and most versions do work to some degree.  Some designs use a few tin cans one inserted into another with various air hole configurations, others insert a can horizontally into a second (vertical) can as a draft/firestarter hole, etc.  Some use one can but have draft holes placed strategically throughout the can to direct air flow in certain ways.  Lots of neat ideas and from what I've seen some do work better than others, so I'm interested in hearing whether one PARTICULAR type or design works BETTER than another...like maybe whether the placement or size of the draft holes makes a huge difference, etc.  

Was wondering if anyone had built a bunch of these and found the 'best' design.  If so, would really like to see how it's made.

[PennDude]

I can't tell you which design is "best" but I have made a few of these stoves. I can tell you that the design I chose to build is incredibly reliable. I gifted one of my stoves to a friend who hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail with it and it never failed him.  The stove did finally "fail" half way through the Pacific Crest trail when the adhesive compound failed.  The JB weld had finally given up from the repeated use. In my opinion, that's acceptable.  Here is a link to the instructions and a video of two of the stoves I built.

 http://zenstoves.net/ZenStove.htm

 

[TSP]

PennDude thanks for the links, alcohol burners work well and those are nice little stoves but I'm looking for a wood burning design...something that will use wood shavings and scrap wood (I don't want to buy fuel).  

I built and tested a small tin can version this morning (large coffee can, soup can) and it works but not efficiently.  Way too much smoke even with dry wood, and without a damper it burns fast and requires constant refilling.  Maybe that's the best I can hope for in a portable DIY wood burner, might have to think about making something bigger.

[wingnut]

This is a step by step on building a rocket stove.

[stalkin4elk]

Hard to beat the Four Dog Stove Bushcooker titanium stove for a small backpack able stick stove. I have had one a long time. Look them up and watch their vids on YouTube. Could make your own to fit your needs but the titanium is only ounces and does not fail due to burn out. The trick is the secondary burn design.

[BenBow]

If you use wood in one of the can wood stoves you'll be filling it all the time. I've built several using empty paint cans that I picked up at home depot and they just don't have enough capacity. You could build one then use charcoal instead of wood. Charcoal should last longer than wood. Something to think about.

[Steve Kendrot]

Found this one under a bridge in Japan. Thought it was pretty cool.

 

[TSP]

This would just be something I can use wood shop scraps in to take the chill off my fingers when working on my snowblower or chainsaw this winter....sort of a hobo hand warmer.  Rocket stoves are good for cooking but their small size and fuel ports just don't hold enough wood per filling, I'd be having to stop and load it too often.  

BenBow, I think you're right about paint cans, capacity-wise they're also just too small.  

Steve, that Japanese stove might work, it looks big enough to hold some wood but small enough to easily move around.  Probably smokes up a storm, though.

Short of building a conventional 'campfire' the tricky part of a portable mini woodburner seems to be figuring out the best air flow arrangement to burn efficiently (not too fast or smoky) but still last at least 30 minutes between loadings.  Where are the woodburner engineers when you need them, lol.  

Maybe I'll just end up throwing some wood in a metal pail set on bricks, punch some holes in the sides and start a fire in it.

[stalkin4elk]

Find a used wall tent stove, small home stove, or build a double 15 gallon barrel stove for that application and put it where you want it outside. Any enclosed stove will work and the raised pipe will get the smoke up and away. Better yet,skip the engineering and get a Three Dog model by Fourdog stoves because the baffled, airtight system is already perfected and doesn't need re inventing. We use similar at a remote cabin to keep warm when working on outside stuff.

[TSP]

This thing also has to be simple/stable enough to tote out back for winter bow shooting....warm fingers and hot coffee make shooting alot more fun.

Gee, that simple pail with a grate on it is starting to sound better by the minute...

[TSP]

Thanks all for the ideas, I think I know what I'm going to make.

[Mike Vines]

Doesn't get much simpler than this.  #10 can (giant metal can of pudding in an earlier life) with a 2"x4" wood insertion hole cut into it, can opener holes all the way around the top and bottom (air circulation) with the top cut out also....

That is steam, not smoke.

       

Bacon, onions and mushrooms.  Real easy if using a cast iron skillet.

       

Being a finish carpenter, I'm able to save scraps of hardwood that works great for this kind of stove.  I'd presume just using short wood sticks would work equally well.

[StanM]

I think if you made a reigniter stove like this, but with a bit bigger pair of cans, you'd be happy with it. I made a small one like the one in this video. Works great.

 http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/build-ultra-efficient-diy-wood-gasifier-backpacking.html

[mlsthmpsn]

In the Nov/Dec 2015 issue of Backwoodsman Magazine, there is an article about "hobo stoves"...think it goes over a few different designs.

I'll check my copy tonight.