Gear

I read on someones blog a few days ago that Tinny has had a letter from Heineken warning him about using the cans and selling them on! Stupid corporate tossers! I wondered what size in ml they were as wondered if the 330 were the 24oz but you've put my mind at rest there. Hmm I have an aunty in the states, I wonder if she'd be so nice as to send me a can.

Ray, I have exactly the same problem as I too am tee total! Yesterday I ran out of cans so had to buy that cheap beer from Sainsburys, good thing is it cleans out the drains real well! also using the 24p tiny coke cans instead of red bull cans as they are much cheaper and just as good. I'll have a look out for that Cains stuff and see what the cans are like.

I think the Heineken ones work well because they are ergonomically shaped so you can hold them better when they are hot and its easy to wrap string round them and keep it on like Tinny does. I think the Heineken cans are slightyl thicker aluminium too. Will use some 330ml ones to make my side burner with for camping on sites and with the missus. 

P.S. More details here on this thing with Tinny and Heineken. I think people are saying it is a well known scam by the looks of it and is a set letter used in the scam and modified to the thing the person is supposed to be breaking copyright on...

http://www.minibulldesign.com/myadventure/index.php?itemid=914

I decided I liked the central burner ring from my 'penny stove' version of the red bull burner, but I didn't like the faff of spilling fuel to get the thing to prime.

So I thought I'd add an inverted conic wall, using the same conic wall design for the 'open topped' burners.  Rather than use tabs to hold the wall together, I used interlocking slots, as this provided a secure, gas-tight-ish seal at the top (where the small cone diameter meets the dimple).

It was a bit of a pain to make, as I cutting the central hole is trickier than cutting a hole around the entire dimple, and I opted to bend down the inner edge to ensure the cone was retained in place.

But the result was worth it.  It self-primes like a Trangia/open-topped burner, and burns with a nice, inward-pointing flame ring.  It burned for a good while, too; longer than any of the others, although the flame is a bit weak towards the end.  Boil time was on a par with the open-topped burners.

I think I'll be concentrating on some timed tests, now I have about 15 different designs to try, and experimenting with pan height above the burner.

Nice flame ring. 

Oh, yes; back to the Q&A...

Does anyone know where you can buy meths in volumes more than 500ml?

Surprisingly, Cotswolds is cheaper (£2) than B&Q or Homebase (£2.50) for 500ml.  But I'm getting tired of having to buy such piddling quantities.

Hole saw's EEK!

It'll be hard to stop them catching when they burst through I think

Try a cone drill , very smooth cutting action when making big holes in thin material.

LOL,

They might be ok, I could be wrong.

I would use the holesaw first befor you cut the can then so that if the holesaw does "grab" the can you dont have a bit of spinning razer sharp metal in your hand.

Anytime I have to make a mod to a M/C in work, say to add a few pushbutton to a control panel for instance. I find it hard to get a clean hole as the cutting teeth on the holesaw are just to aggressive. I find a small pilot hole then open it up with a cone drill give a nice clean hole.

If you tell me what size you want to cut I'll see what I've got lying around in work.

Not exactly sure of the price, But I buy my meths in "wilkinsons" or my local hardware store.

I buy either 750ml's or one ltres, with the one litres being  sub £2.

Good idea but if that fails try ramping up the drill speed as fast as it'll go but make the pressure you push the drill into the can as gentle as you can.

..........may result in a can flying across the room at high speed if it grabs and be ready if it does as the drill will want to twist out your hands so a firm grip is needed.

A cordless drill that "brakes" as soon as you release the trigger will be easier to use than a mains powered one that runs on.

.....................I drill to many holes I think!

> I'm thinking of turning pro - I just bought myself a set of hole saws.

I was looking at hole saws at the weekend.  I concluded that the teeth were enormous, and wouldn't work on something as delicate as a can.

I've also been putting my mind to semi-automated production, and thought about using a bit of steel pipe turned to the right diameter in a lathe (so the can is a snug fit) to make a mandrel.  Then turn some slots in the outer at the can cutting heights.  Then take the roller cutter blade from a decent can opener, and fit it to a weighted drop arm that mates with the slot.

You remove the cap and shoulder of the can, put the body on the mandrel, press it home firmly with some spring-loaded thing, engage the cutter and rotate the can or the entire mandrel assembly.

You could assemble a number of cutters into a single drop arm, so that it cut the base of the can off, and cut an inner wall at the same time.

To cut out the end, I envisaged using another rotary can open blade, only this time engaged at an angle, so that it cuts around the perimeter of the dimple.

Mmmm... cone drill; good idea.

Ray: cheers for the Wilko's head's up; I'll check out my nearest.

Fancying a shot at this but can't seem to get high temp. epoxy. What brands are people using?

Also - tin snips, are the recommended type the little pincer type or something more fearsome...?

I made a Supercat but it went out when the pot was placed on top (now binned) and a top holed coke can jobby (no inner wall - may have been a mistake) which would burn for a bit then go bang. Good entertainment, poor cooking use.

Cheers.

This whole coke can stove idea is really scary and i'll tell you why,

 I first saw the idea for these and thought that i couldnt really be bothered waisting my time making something that only saves a little weight when i have nice stoves already. Then day or two ago i was bored and so decided to have a laugh and try it out just for fun. Now ive just completed my first one and got it working nicely and all of a sudden im looking at things and plans are forming in my head on how to make lightweight alternatives and experimenting with new designs of stove etc. Its scary because im gonna end up going through so many cans perfecting my own little design. Making these is quite addictive.

For anyone reading this that was like me and wasnt sure if its worth trying, let me tell you - go for it, its a bit of a laugh trying it out and can be quite surprised at results.

Hi Toxic. I personally don't use any snips or shears, Just scissors and craft blades.

As for epoxy, if I ever need to use one, then I would choose J B WELD, which is available from car accesory stores. From memory (which may well be wrong then) it can withstand 400 degrees c, and once dried and hard, can be filed, drilled or tapped.

From my own personal experience of JB WELD, it is good at withstanding dry heat, but scorches and deteriorates if in direct conact with flame. 

Toxic Sherlock, J.B.Weld is a good high temperature epoxy.  I googled for it and bought some bymail order, but it is sold in some car parts shops.  Make sure you get the high temperature version - J.B.Weld also comes in other types.

Graham Coe wrote ".... and can be quite surprised at results."  I've been amazed, shocked and terrified at some of the results of my testing.  Welcome to stovism Graham.

CP - my holesaw worked eventually and produced a very pretty hole for me.  Not quite centred but very pretty. 

Toxic, like Ray, I don't generally use snips or shears.  To cut the bases off, I use the stanley blade method shown a couple of times in pictures in this thread (do print thread to get the whole thing in one go; much easier than paging through posts).  If I need to cut cans to remove scrap or open the sides up, I use kitchen scissors.

I've never used glue in any of my stoves, and have only ever had a problem with leaks when I've got the design or build wrong.