The Gray Fox
08-24-2004, 12:16
Hi everybody, I hope my old computer is up to this. I am having it "upgraded" next week, so if you ask questions about this post and I don't answer be patient. I'm hoping to be able to send pictures as well as words.
I have been working on small burner designs for a long time and I would like to share what I know to help others doing the same. Most of my burners are made of small cans from apricot juice or energy drinks, round Altoid tins, and tea candle holders. If you build these burner designs you can use the pot support/wind screen set up you already have or one suitable for any "Pepsi" stove design and then modify as necessary.
1. Classic Apricot Simmering Stove. Materials: Swiss Army Classic knife, piece of string(or rubber band, blade of grass), can of apricot juice.
Directions: Drink the juice, rinse out the can. With the aid of the string, using the lines in the Nutrition Facts box as guides, cut off the top of the can at about the line under "calories" using the knife blade. Move the string down to the line under "Protien" and using the small scissors make a series of tabs by cutting down to this line from the cut edge as follows. Using the knife blade width as a guide, alternate tabs of one blade width with tabs of two blade widths. It doesn't have to look pretty to work. Fold the narrow tabs in to the sides of the can so that the remaining tabs look like a crown. Fold the wide tabs down toward the center stopping at right angles to the side of the can. You will need to trim the now overlapping tabs to open the center hole to about dime size. There will be small triangular openings where the small tabs are folded in. Using your pot support and wind screen put about a tablespoon of denatured alcohol in the burner and carefull light it. If the flame goes out press the tabs down to open the center hole and allow more oxygen to the flame. Optimum distance between pot and burner is about one and a half inches but each set up will be unique. If there is soot on your pot that means there is not enough air getting to the flame. This burner is very efficient so start with only one or two tablespoons of fuel. The flame may be extinguished quickly by covering it with your pot or pouring a pot of water on it. If you build the first one like this you will get the idea and then can make the next one to fit your pot better--trying to get the best combination of elements is the fun of it.
2. Tealight Mini. Materials: Two empty tealight containers, metal screen(I cut up an old sieve), perlite(from the garden shed), mat knife, sharpie pen.
Directions: Cut a small circle of screen that will fit snugly inside the container. Cut the bottom out of one container leaving a small rim around the edge and push the screen down to this rim. You now have the two halves of the burner. Fill the screened half with perlite(it works best to use the larger granuals as the fine powder leaks through the screen). Gently and carefully press the unmodified container down into the one containing the perlite. This will try your soul but the soft aluminum will eventually bend to your will. You might well ask "Why bother with the perlite?" I think it keeps the alcohol from boiling away too fast. Some times when these types of burners go out after placing the pot on its support, they are actually so hot they are evaporating too much fuel too quickly and use up all the air and suffocate themselves. The Tealight Mini uses about one tablespoon of denatured alcohol and will make about one cup of hot water in my Sierra Cup. You must use a lid on the cup if you want it to boil. My pot support is a can that supports the cup by its rim above the burner about one and one half inches so that the entire cup is surrounded by the flame from the little burner. No aditional wind screen is necessary. I carry the little burner in a tiny plastic container that had hand cream in it which I found in Wally worlds "travel size" bins.
3. Spice Tin Burner. (These instructions also work for round Altoid type cans but I feel that the steel of these short cans absorbs too much energy taking too much fuel to start the evaporation process and when hot allow the fuel to boil over the side of the tin and be wasted.) I found (at Wally world, sorry you'll have to go back there as I have not yet seen them elsewhere) a small covered tin about one and one half inches in diameter just over one inch high. I think the display showed small craft items being stored in them but they resemble some spice tins I found there in the kitchen department. I use the method of screen and perlite described above. Cut the screen to fit under the rim of the little container, fill the container with coarse perlite and press the screen in under the rim to cover the perlite. This little burner holds about two and one half tablespoons of denatured alcohol and burns for about fifteen minutes. It is very sturdy and with its lid in place for travel needs no additional protection.
I hope these designs give some food for thought and that you have fun using the basic principles in your own designs. Be Careful, use only denatured alcohol, only test them outside(the flame is easier to see at dusk), and have a pan of water ready to deal with any unanticipated conflagration.
The Gray Fox
I have been working on small burner designs for a long time and I would like to share what I know to help others doing the same. Most of my burners are made of small cans from apricot juice or energy drinks, round Altoid tins, and tea candle holders. If you build these burner designs you can use the pot support/wind screen set up you already have or one suitable for any "Pepsi" stove design and then modify as necessary.
1. Classic Apricot Simmering Stove. Materials: Swiss Army Classic knife, piece of string(or rubber band, blade of grass), can of apricot juice.
Directions: Drink the juice, rinse out the can. With the aid of the string, using the lines in the Nutrition Facts box as guides, cut off the top of the can at about the line under "calories" using the knife blade. Move the string down to the line under "Protien" and using the small scissors make a series of tabs by cutting down to this line from the cut edge as follows. Using the knife blade width as a guide, alternate tabs of one blade width with tabs of two blade widths. It doesn't have to look pretty to work. Fold the narrow tabs in to the sides of the can so that the remaining tabs look like a crown. Fold the wide tabs down toward the center stopping at right angles to the side of the can. You will need to trim the now overlapping tabs to open the center hole to about dime size. There will be small triangular openings where the small tabs are folded in. Using your pot support and wind screen put about a tablespoon of denatured alcohol in the burner and carefull light it. If the flame goes out press the tabs down to open the center hole and allow more oxygen to the flame. Optimum distance between pot and burner is about one and a half inches but each set up will be unique. If there is soot on your pot that means there is not enough air getting to the flame. This burner is very efficient so start with only one or two tablespoons of fuel. The flame may be extinguished quickly by covering it with your pot or pouring a pot of water on it. If you build the first one like this you will get the idea and then can make the next one to fit your pot better--trying to get the best combination of elements is the fun of it.
2. Tealight Mini. Materials: Two empty tealight containers, metal screen(I cut up an old sieve), perlite(from the garden shed), mat knife, sharpie pen.
Directions: Cut a small circle of screen that will fit snugly inside the container. Cut the bottom out of one container leaving a small rim around the edge and push the screen down to this rim. You now have the two halves of the burner. Fill the screened half with perlite(it works best to use the larger granuals as the fine powder leaks through the screen). Gently and carefully press the unmodified container down into the one containing the perlite. This will try your soul but the soft aluminum will eventually bend to your will. You might well ask "Why bother with the perlite?" I think it keeps the alcohol from boiling away too fast. Some times when these types of burners go out after placing the pot on its support, they are actually so hot they are evaporating too much fuel too quickly and use up all the air and suffocate themselves. The Tealight Mini uses about one tablespoon of denatured alcohol and will make about one cup of hot water in my Sierra Cup. You must use a lid on the cup if you want it to boil. My pot support is a can that supports the cup by its rim above the burner about one and one half inches so that the entire cup is surrounded by the flame from the little burner. No aditional wind screen is necessary. I carry the little burner in a tiny plastic container that had hand cream in it which I found in Wally worlds "travel size" bins.
3. Spice Tin Burner. (These instructions also work for round Altoid type cans but I feel that the steel of these short cans absorbs too much energy taking too much fuel to start the evaporation process and when hot allow the fuel to boil over the side of the tin and be wasted.) I found (at Wally world, sorry you'll have to go back there as I have not yet seen them elsewhere) a small covered tin about one and one half inches in diameter just over one inch high. I think the display showed small craft items being stored in them but they resemble some spice tins I found there in the kitchen department. I use the method of screen and perlite described above. Cut the screen to fit under the rim of the little container, fill the container with coarse perlite and press the screen in under the rim to cover the perlite. This little burner holds about two and one half tablespoons of denatured alcohol and burns for about fifteen minutes. It is very sturdy and with its lid in place for travel needs no additional protection.
I hope these designs give some food for thought and that you have fun using the basic principles in your own designs. Be Careful, use only denatured alcohol, only test them outside(the flame is easier to see at dusk), and have a pan of water ready to deal with any unanticipated conflagration.
The Gray Fox