twig stove | SouthernPaddler.com

twig stove

J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Camping weather is right around the corner. Jack has been kicking around a design for a light, collapsible twig stove and it got me thinking. I've been doing some painting and have a couple of paint cans lying around. This is my version of some of the twig stoves I found on the Internet.
100_0377.jpg

100_0379.jpg

The shelf rods are removable for storage and hold the pot low enough so the fire surrounds the sides and bottom. there is about 1/4" of space between the sides of the pot and the stove.

This is the pile of twigs I used to boil over 3 cups of water.
100_0381.jpg

Started the fire with one small piece of a wax soaked paper towel.

Total time from lighting the fire to ROLLING boil--5 1/2 minutes.
[img]http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa106/Bayouboy1954/100_0385.jpg
Fire burned out in 12-15 minutes and left a few tablespoonfuls of light ash.

Between this stove and my alcohol stove, I should be able to cover most cooking tasks.
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
oldsparkey said:
Ingenious :D , Light weight , easy to make , low in cost and really cooks for you.
Have you tried less twigs in it for it to simmer after you get it to a rolling boil.? Or just to warm a meal up ?

Chuck.
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Just made it last night, so didn't experiment much yet. :) Adjusting cooking temps with less wood would probably be easily done. I also need to make some kind of raised supports for larger pots.

The shelf supports come out and store inside the stove along with the the pot, lid, fire starter, etc. That way, you just dump the ashes, pull out the shelf supports and everything goes inside the stove without a lot of soot exposed.

Now all I need is some cool camping weather.
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Kayak Jack said:
There goes that Cajun engineering again. High tech, expensive, lots of moving parts, excessively over engineered, tail fins, complicated operating instructions, and too much chrome. :lol:
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It is a little complicated, what , with the moving carrying handle, and all. :wink: :) It's also a little heavy. Next time, I'll use the can that the white paint came out of-- it's a lighter color, don't ya know. :roll:

Joey Dupre' - resident Cajun
 
L

Lazyriverguy

Well-Known Member
Nov 9, 2006
180
0
Eureka,Florida
Joey
Did ya git a patent number for the stove yet or kin we make copies? Also did ya take build pics so Jack can figure out how ta git the holes in the right places.
Joe
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Lazyriverguy said:
Joey
Did ya git a patent number for the stove yet or kin we make copies? Also did ya take build pics so Jack can figure out how ta git the holes in the right places.
Joe
Click to expand...

Joe, anyone on Southern Paddler is free to make copies. Anyone else will have to talk to my lawyer. :)

As far as gettin' the holes in the right places, I used a very involved process of microscopic retinal assessment. Alright, I just eyeballed it. :roll:

Joey
 
K

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
I went down to our local hardware and bought some extra holes, just in case my first ones were misplaced.

If a small pot fits down inside the stove, and rests on nails, for a larger diameter pot, try this. Remove the nails (I use eaves trough nails), and lay them on top of the pail. Set the larger pot on the nails. May have to bang a couple of dents into the rim of the can to deter rolling off.

Not all hardware stores stock dents or detentes, but most of them do stock nail holes and post holes. :lol:
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Went down to my hardware store and they had fence posts strewn everywhere. I asked the guy what happened. "Dang crimminals-- stole all my post holes and left the posts!" :roll: :)
 
T

tx river rat

Well-Known Member
Feb 23, 2007
3,043
2
Waco Tx
JD
If you need any post holes come on down we got us a real hardware store here that stocks them. They are on the same wall with the left handed monkey wrenches, stripped paint and sky hooks.
Ron
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Made a raised pot holder for larger pots. A couple of pieces of the shelf bracket that I cut the two inner rods from.
holdernotch.jpg

I also cut a piece of hardware cloth for the bottom to keep air flowing beneath the fire.
holderandstove.jpg


I hope to try it out on a camping trip this weekend.

Later

Joey
 
K

Kayak Jack

Well-Known Member
Aug 26, 2003
13,976
171
86
Okemos / East Lansing Michigan
Joey,

Very nice Cajun Inginearing. By making the pot raisiners and the screen on the bottom, you have added air to the mix. You maybe can even try a few holes in the bottom of the can, on the side opposite the large side hole. Then air can rise through the holes and the screen up into the fire pot.

I have some stuff that looks like metal lathe to raise wood a bit off the bottom. Even another pair of pot raisiners on the bottom for wood to rest on would work.

Using the piece of tin from that large, bottom hole to cover it and slow down a fire could sometimes be useful too.

A nearly perfect model to emulate is the chimney starters for charcoal.
 
J

jdupre'

Well-Known Member
Sep 9, 2007
2,327
40
South Louisiana
Jack, the design is basically the same as those charcoal chimneys. You probably can't have too much air coming in from the bottom.

With this stove and my Pepsi can stove, I should have the cooking chores covered.
 
O

oldsparkey

Well-Known Member
Aug 25, 2003
10,479
123
Central , Florida
www.southernpaddler.com
Your raised pot holder is identical to the one that the Zip Stove uses except for one thing. The ends on there's are notched out so they don't slide around and are about 2 inches high. Makes it easy to add more wood to the fire as things are cooking.

Chuck.
 
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