Making A Penny Stove

I have been looking at penny stoves for a while now, and I finally got around to making one.

I used two pop cans, and one fruit cocktail can, and a penny.  The fuel I am using right now is rubbing alcohol. The tools I used were tin snips, a marker, a hammer and nail, a drill, a can opener/hole puncher, and a pair of pliers.


Here is how I made the stove:


First I gathered some tools and my two pop cans.

2 pop cans, a 2X4, a marker, and tins snips.

Next I drew a line on the pop can, using the 2X4 as a guide.

After I had a line on both cans I cut off the top half of the can.  This left me with two can bottoms.

I took a pair of pliers and carefully crimped the edge of on of the cans. I did this so it would fit inside the other can.

I took the non crimped can and used the hammer and nail to make a series of holes around the edge, as well as a larger hold in the middle.

The next step is to carefully put the two halves together.  It is important to go slow, so you don't split the can by accident.  When the halves are together they should look like this.

The stove is now complete.  I could use it as is, but I would need to use rocks as a pot stand, and I still need a priming pan.
I decided to make something that would act as a priming pan, pot stand, and wind guard, all at once. 

To do this I began with a large metal can.  I drilled a series of 1/4'' holes around it, about 3'' up from the bottom.  I also put some holes around the top, to let gasses escape. 
This setup pulls air into the can, where it mixes with the alcohol vapour and combusts.  It then leaves the can through the vents at the top.

The stove inside the pot stand

I don't have enough 1/4'' holes in this picture.  I added another ring to make the stove burn better.

Now that my stove is finished, I tested it by bringing a cup of water to a boil in my favourite camping pot. 

The fuel used for priming the stove is burning off.

This is the stove burning normally.