There are things lying around your house that can be used in a sticky situation.
Winter season is upon us.
And with it, we shouldn’t be surprised by the spike in fuel and energy costs.
There are other ways to heat up your areas, however, and you can actually achieve that with a couple of tin cans.
This creation is not only handy at home, but it’s also extraordinarily useful for those who love spending time outdoors or in their woodland sheds.
YouTube content creator Robert Murray-Smith created a stove out of cans.
Grab two cans for this project.
A normal 400g can will do but for the other, it should be shorter and slightly wider.
You can check the size ratio in the video below.
You’ll also need:
- 100% carbon felt or wicking material
- an aluminum sheet
- pieces of steel screen
- a drill or a hammer
- a nail
- cake tins (optional)
First, let’s construct the stove.
Remove the labels of your cans and brush them thoroughly.
Next, punch holes just under the opened side of the taller can.
Cut some sheets and pieces of the carbon felt and line the short can with it. It should cover the inner surface of the can.
At this point, you already have the core components of making a can stove.
We need a few more steps to convert it into a heater.
Next, let’s construct the reflector.
The main difference between a stove and a heater is the reflector.
This part of the project will help bounce off the heat and infrared so it can radiate toward the direction the heat is aimed at.
This can be achieved with a sheet of reflector. The shinier the surface, the better.
So for this project, Murray-Scott used a polished sheet of aluminum.
Shape your sheet into a reflector.
You can achieve this by rolling your aluminum sheet.
In this project, Murray-Smith followed the circumference of the cake tins that he’ll use as the cap and the base.
Screw the reflector into the base and the cap.
This is entirely optional but you can also install legs or stubs under your base and a handle on the cap.
Next, we’ll create the mantle.
Roll a sheet of steel screen around the smaller can. Cut off the excess length.
The mantle should be a couple of inches higher than the small can.
Next, fill the bigger can with methanol.
With the opened lip facing down, place the smaller can inside the bigger can.
Put the mantle over the can stove then light the heater up.
As the flames sustain their strength, you’ll see the steel mesh light up in red.
The heat produced by this will be then reflected so it can heat the immediate area.
Simple but effective.
This heater is handy when power lines are cut, especially in storm-battered areas of the south.
It can also be handy during camping trips when bonfires can’t be taken inside a tent.
Get all the details for making your own tin can heater in the video below!
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