Free easy to make stove/burner made from recycled every day household items.

[klause]

I saw a clip on you tube whilst looking to make my own mehhs/alcohol cooker.
I had all the equipment in my house that's probibly why i made it.
(MOST PEOPLE WILL HAVE - WAX, CARDBOARD, TUNA TIN).
We take one out most times we go into the woods it boils a camping kettle no worries and has never let me down.
I wrapped some cardboard in tin foil for a wind guard and take three nails to rest/raise my kettle.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRJiVvdfLLU&feature=related
Not the clip i first watched but same reliable burner.


BOILS KETTLE EVERY TIME - SAVES ON GAS - 100% FREE - WIN WIN WIN

[robin]

Thanks klause, I haven't seen one of those before. Are you able to tell us any more information such as how long it burns for, how long it takes to boil up a certain amount of water, are you able to extinguish it to reuse later, etc?

[klause]

Hi Robin,
It doesn't take too long (soon has my little kettle whistling !). I normally set it up and let it boil whilst im seting up camp.
It seems to burn for ever (the tighter the coils when made the better i find) and can be put out by placing my boot on top to starve of oxygen.
Leave to cool (let the wax reset) and it can be put away to reuse when ever...
I use it when i'm stopped for camp (because its cheep as chips), if i'm on the move i use my jet boil (cus it's faster and so i don't have to wait for the wax to set as it takes a while)...

Hope that helps Robin..

[robin]

Thank you klause, that was very helpful. As I keep bees I usually have a fair bit of wax lying around so I think I shall have a go at making one myself.

[klause]

Thanks Robin, i usually get a big bag of tea lights from Pound Land lol. a right royal pain in the backside but i get there in the end.
I recently saw a post on youtube, same thing realy just no tin - 'fire lighters' looked a good idea i'll find the post and send the link...

[robin]

I saw the fire lighters on this website a few days ago, they look great. I don't have a fire at home so would not use them there and when I'm out in the field I always use cotton wool and vaseline to start my fires as I carry them as part of my first aid kit/fire kit.

Why do you find it a 'right royal pain'? Is it the cleaning issue? If you are using wax regularly it will pay to have a separate pan, a double boiler or bain marie for your wax. If using just a pan make sure you nestle it inside another pan of water. I also microwave small amounts of wax in short bursts which works well but do worry about whether wax has a flash point, must do some investigation on that!

[Martin]

On a trip to the beach for a coastal foraging session early last year. Ashley made one of these and we used it for making brews. I remember it worked really well.

In terms of the flash point of paraffin wax. Yes it does have a flash point which is between 200 and 250 degrees C,as far as I can tell (source Google so it must be right??).

Anyway, the general advice has to be to be very careful when heating paraffin wax and the use of a bain marie is an excellent idea.

Martin

[klause]

I just used to melt it in a tin can on the gas stove !!! i'll have to go the 'ban marie' way in future !

Thanks for the warning guys....

[bushcraft.mcf]

thanks klause this is great i made one the other day and its really easy to use and heats up really quick....great for boiling up some water or soup exct.

[chrisj]

I made firelighters and 'fire logs' in a similar way by mixing sawdust / wood shavings produced by the chainsaw when cutting logs with melted wax and pressing into moulds. It was more to make use of the wood shavings than anything else as it seemed a real shame to throw them away.
I also keep bees and always have wax around but I tend to keep the bees wax for making candles and polish etc. For this sort of thing we have friends and family keeping their old candle ends for us. It's amazing how little candle ends and the dregs left in the bottom of tea lights add up especially when word gets around and everyone you know gives you a little bag full every so often.

[klause]

thanks klause this is great i made one the other day and its really easy to use and heats up really quick....great for boiling up some water or soup exct.

i used mine again today for a brew, they produce a lot of sutt though dont they ?

[comanighttrain]

wow this looks fun bushcraft for whenever I can't get out.... i may try it this weekend :P

[bushcraft.mcf]

i used mine again today for a brew, they produce a lot of sutt though dont they ? sure do lol the bottom of my canteen cup is covered thick black sutt great thoe :D

[klause]

wow this looks fun bushcraft for whenever I can't get out.... i may try it this weekend :P

How did you get on Comanighttrain? Howdo you rate it ?

[klause]

sure do lol the bottom of my canteen cup is covered thick black sutt great thoe :D

It comes of easy enough though with a handfull of grass or a babywipe !

[comanighttrain]

How did you get on Comanighttrain? Howdo you rate it ?

Never got round to it im afraid, been tied up the past couple of weekends :(

[Jeime_outdoors]

nice one, the small things really do make a big difference :)

Jeime.

[Ashley Cawley]

Yeah I've made one of these once - I should make another and try different tin sizes. Basically the tin size & amount of wax you've got in it will dictate the burn-time and no doubt the density of the packed cardboard will effect how efficiently it burns.

As a test with my first one I used thin Chinese-food style tin (you know with the card-lids), I intended this one to be disposable, it did work well, I filled with old candle-ends & did have to use some extra T-Lights as those tins hold quite a lot!

It did seem to work well, although I'd like to try making some smaller, reusable tins before I could personally say that this is efficient for boiling or cooking etc. worth trying.

[Lukeyp23]

[QUOTE=klause;5274]I saw a clip on you tube whilst looking to make my own mehhs/alcohol cooker.
I had all the equipment in my house that's probibly why i made it.
(MOST PEOPLE WILL HAVE - WAX, CARDBOARD, TUNA TIN).
We take one out most times we go into the woods it boils a camping kettle no worries and has never let me down.
I wrapped some cardboard in tin foil for a wind guard and take three nails to rest/raise my kettle.
_____

Love the simplicity of this matey, i think that a trip to poundland and some Blue Peter stylee fettlin' could keep me busy whilst I get my kit together ;)

[WombleWill]

Definitely going to have a go at one of these over the coming weekend and also try and make my own camping mug from an old bean can and some sheet metal or such. Can also modify then can burner and add some metal steps for the kettle" to sit on?

[Andy Sherwood]

Very ingenious idea! I will make sure to make one asap, would sure come it handy!

[Juanodaxis]

I got loads of candles, and I love tuna, sounds like a little project for the weekend. Thank you very much.
PS, BTW, this should work very well with a hobo stove, another project for me to do as soon as my neighbour give me one of his empty dog food cans.

[tadpole]

I've made several (I keep one in my kit, both for a brew and for a bomb-proof fire lighting method) and I have to say I'd only use it on kit that I can clean easily, as the mess it makes of pans, has to be seen to be believed. :p

[Lewi]

Hi there first time on the forum, I was really imprseesd with these buddy burners, other than no quick way to mount my crusader cup above it so i made this. the lid closes down when not in use and the wire legs are off a coat hanger, also the wicks are made from lint and vaseline so should light off a firesteel, can't wait to try it.3848

[klause]

How did you get on Lewis, i love your version....

[Basha72]

I've made a few of these over the years for myself and other people who couldn't be bothered to do the melting the wax process, first one I made was in the late 80's it worked well enough to boil up the old tin rat packs ! I've got a couple laying around now in my kit an old round sweet tin about 4 inch by 1" 1/4 with screw on lid and a old tobacco tin. Just don't let them burn down too much and keep topping the wax up after each use and the cardboard will last longer.

They do create a lot of soot but I thought the sooty pan look was in at the moment LOL

Dave

[Lewi]

yeah went real well lit off the firesteel too, it was really sooty but worked alot better than expected.

[klause]

The sutt usually comes off pretty easily with just grass or better still a baby wipe.....

I always have baby wipes in my kit incase the turles head starts sniffing cotton, if you know what i mean :shocked: