Penny stoves

Posted by: Drake

Penny stoves - 01/07/09 03:33 PM

When I make my penny stoves, I am having a hard time getting a good mating between the fuel pot and the burner lid. I crimp the bottom edges of the burner so it can fit inside the fuel pot and press fit them together. but always seems that I get a "sharp" edge from between two crimp area and it "scores"/deforms/"can't remember the correct name" outside area and prevents a smooth finish and fit. Any idea how to fix/prevent this type of blemish(es).

I might just be trying to be a perfectionist and could just use epoxy to fill in the gap corrected inside and don't worry about outside. I can get my stoves to work but I am still in the experimenting stages. I even got one to work well withmy jetboil mug, just watch out for the cover as it stinks when it starts to burn lol.

drake
Posted by: phat

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 06:30 PM


takes some fiddling and the right can. I have a lot more success
with heineken cans (they're a bit thicker) than pop cans.

Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 06:54 PM

I been mainly playing with Heineken cans, even though I despise the taste of it (I am a home brewer), I tried using Diet Coke cans, my wife drinks those, and I have tried using the Heiny can as the fuel pot and using the diet coke can as a burner (without crimps).

The Diet can + Heiny can resulted in what looks good, but didn't prime as well my other attempts. I imagine the crimps act as heat radiators and get the temp of the alcohol to a boil quicker.

I am wondering if I can cut tabs into the burner can instead and bend every other tab inward at a 45' angle to result in the same concept as a crimp.... Wish I still had that old crimp roller that my dad had when he was doing sheet metal work.

drake
Posted by: phat

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 07:02 PM

yeah, cutting slots will work too, I've done 'em both ways. Just took a little experimentation to get the "right touch" - but last time I made pennies I got a stash of heieneken cans, made
about a dozen, and tossed 'em in a box. I believe I used the crimp style way then quite successfully, with a slow steady hand pressing them together.
Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 07:10 PM

Heh, I'll try again, but my getting down to the last of the 12-pack. Even my wife don't like the taste, "it taste like water". Which reminds be of a old joke... what you get when take "P" out of Pearl?

Are there any tricks that I might be over looking?

By burner are 0.650" tall and I crimp about half way up with a needle nose pliers in 12 spots. What I am guessing is happening that where the pliers tip is the aluminum is buckling and forming a point there upon compression.

drake
Posted by: hikerduane

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 07:22 PM

Try a Supercat stove, of course you need a dog or cat to help out. The hardest part I had with, was measuring somewhat accurately for where to drill holes. Also, the pot needs to make a good seal on the open top of the burner to pressurize it. The Foster's beer can pot had to be polished off, I'm not a big beer drinker, but on a Saturday evening, I managed to get most of it down. I was very happy with the stoves first firing up.
Posted by: phat

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 08:42 PM


I didn't crimp very hard at all - if you bend it too much you end up with bumpies and it doesn't seem to go in nicely. I didn't really measure it - just kinda followed the directions on mark jurey's site.
Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/07/09 08:56 PM

yea thats basically what I am doing...

I'll give it another try or two.. only 4 cans left :P

drake
Posted by: jpanderson80

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 12:15 AM

Ha! I always wondered what a low powered alcy stove would do with the jet boil heat distributor on the bottom of the Jet boil cup. It has potential, but I doubt that it'll save that much fuel to be worthwhile.

As far as the stoves, it's all about the experimenting. Each pot and stove seem to have their own unique preferences. You just have to have a keen eye and be diligent.
Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 12:41 AM

Finally got one made, the way I want it!

Took very slight bending with pliers that didn't "grip" but had a gap between the jaws. Pressed the two halves together and bingo it was done! *looks for some scotch to clean out the beer taste now*

The jetboil mugs do work well with the alchy stove, but I used the "simmer" plate as the jets were too much. I didn't have a timer or do any specific studies with it, but it brought several mugs of water to boil before a "full" alchy stove ran out. Might actually experiment with it later on. Just make sure the "simmering" flame is on center of the mug and not creeping out the edges ... don't ask me how I know that much.

drake
Posted by: phat

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 10:41 AM

Yeah, I suspect the penny stove might be able to use the jetboil stuff. I haven't personally tried though. It's become my goto stove for most things. If I didn't have that it would be a supercat stove, but I find while (slightly) more complex once you know how to use it the penny is a lot easier to deal with in windier and mildly adverse conditions. the flame pattern is still a bit too wide to use something really tall and narrow like a canpot on top of it, but it's great for most small pots.


Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 11:15 AM

If one is to use a Penny Stove for/with JetBoil items, I recommend using the Half-Penny Stovedesign. The jets are not as wide and targets the center of the mug/pot.

drake
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 12:57 PM

Quote:
the flame pattern is still a bit too wide to use something really tall and narrow like a canpot


I hadn't seen that design before. Thanks for the link, phat. I'm gonna have to make one of these too smile

I wonder if you could make one out of those smaller diameter energy drink cans to use with canpots?

Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 12:58 PM

Yes you can, hence "half-penny" stove concepts :P
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 01:00 PM

Ahh... now I get it smile


Thanks!
Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 02:08 PM

my next goal is going to make a half-penny stove with a support that can sit inside the bottom area of the JetBoil mugs ... I think that will be neat :P But have to find some mesh somewhere around my house.

drake
Posted by: phat

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 04:51 PM


of course you could always ditch your jetboil cup that weighs almost 9 oz for a nice light canpot, anti gravity gear 3 cup pot, or walmart grease pot. All under 10 bucks and half or less the weight of the jetboil.. If you doubt me, paint a big beercan with black high temp paint, set it up over your chosen alky stove, and test boil 2 cups in each - see how much fuel you can practically save - Even if you use a pot like this that's 2 oz heavier than the canpot, you're still saving about 4.5 oz from the jetboil cup. How long to save 4.5 oz in fuel (for me that's about 3 days worth of fuel) using your jetboil cup smile wink wink

Don't get me wrong. the engineer in me things the jetboil is cool technology.. it's just too darn heavy smile
Posted by: Drake

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 05:16 PM

Phat that is my goal, get replacement pot for my heavy mug... been trying to figure out which one to go with...several options

but in the mean time, I am just playing with what I have at hand :P

drake
Posted by: jpanderson80

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 05:48 PM

Wow... I have no idea the jetboil cup was that heavy. Man oh man. Phat, you've just blown my mind.
Posted by: chaz

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 08:36 PM

When I started making pop can stoves, it seems I couldn't stop until I build almost every design I could find. Some worked great and some would never pressureize. I even started coming up with variations of other ideas. I built one stove that had a fiberglass wick that was wrapped inside the stove. That thing would burn up 2oz of fuel in about 3 minutes and burn like a blowtorch. I now use a simple pop can stove with the best results of all the other stoves I built. BTW I had to drink a bunch of 24oz cans of Heine. That stuff isn't that great. Too bad a nice Porter didn't have a can to use... wink
Posted by: Folkalist

Re: Penny stoves - 01/08/09 09:14 PM

My JetBoil PCS is 15.2 ounces without fuel. Most of that weight is the cup. I thought is was pretty good technology, too, and it was a good choice for me as I started into overnight trips. It just doesn't cut it for me anymore and I'm alky-stove impaired blush, hence my recent order of a Brunton Talon. 'Supposed to arrive on Tuesday . . . can't wait!
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: Penny stoves - 01/10/09 02:50 PM

Originally Posted By chaz
When I started making pop can stoves, it seems I couldn't stop until I build almost every design I could find.

<snip>

Too bad a nice Porter didn't have a can to use... wink


I have to play with this too. There are some cool designs out there and the simplicity of some of them is just incredible considering how well they perform.

What I want to try is taking a standard tea candle (not a stove) and placing it an inch or two under a pop can stove so it heats the alcohol in the pop can. This should make it burn faster and hotter. That's not always a great thing, but it might help get my morning coffee done faster and it only weighs a 1/2 oz and has multiple uses.

It might also provide a way to use a taller can that holds more fuel and burns longer and make the stove perform better in cold temps.

That's my theory anyway. I haven't completely read all of the info Tom pointed to, maybe it's been done and I missed it, but what I did read was impressive and from what I've seen, the Super Cat is the ultimate combo of simple to make, use, and performance. Anything more may add performance, but it will also add complexity and probably weight.

Now for me... the best can to experiment with would contain a nice hoppy India Pale Ale. Unfortunately, the only cans that my favorite, Bells IPA, comes in contain 5 or 15 gallons of beer and you can't get them here. Even getting bottles is difficult frown

I'm not as brave as you, chaz. I wouldn't even attempt a single 24oz can of Heine and two would ruin me. It's going to be hard enough to eat a few cans of "Purrfect Gourmet".


Bill

Posted by: chaz

Re: Penny stoves - 01/10/09 03:21 PM

Bill, yeah! I did have some funky weird stoves and I'm still thinking of building more. I'm still thinking of an internal wick type pop can stove. I think my problem may lie with too large of holes on the exterior. It is about 1/3 the height of a 12oz can. That thing really burned up the fuel. It is well disperced by the wick so it has a lot of surface. I think there is some type of wick in the Trangia stove I have. If I can shorten the profile closer to a typical pop can stove add less wick material and have smaller jet holes it may work. Either way, it's fun coming up with ideas. And BTW. I had help swilling all that Heine. But I kept the cans....