Penny Wood stove

[Jason Berard]

has anyone made one of these?http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/pennywood.html

I made one today, and could not get mine to perform to the level they claim.
They say the stove should boil water in 10 minutes, and it took 20, and I needed to keep adding wood to the "stove", as opposed to it boiling 1 qt. on one load of wood.....

I made their penny alcohol stove last year, and am very happy with it....so I'm wondering if there are others out there who got this wood cook stove contraption to work better than I did.

 

[Jay H]

Too many holes, your wood is burning up faster because of the air intake??? Try to perhaps cover some of the primary air intakes. Also, conditions vary with your wood so perhaps 10 minutes is optimal.. Try a bunch of runs and average them..

Looks like an interesting concept for sure..

Jay

 

[skiguy]

Go Sierra

 

[Jason Berard]

Too many holes, your wood is burning up faster because of the air intake??? Try to perhaps cover some of the primary air intakes. Also, conditions vary with your wood so perhaps 10 minutes is optimal.. Try a bunch of runs and average them..

Looks like an interesting concept for sure..

Jay

yeah...I guess it is unfair to do one run and be disappointed....

I'll try more runs.....I also think maybe I could have packed more wood into it.....

I'll work on it some more and maybe post some pics/video......

thanks Jay.

 

[Jason Berard]

Go Sierra

But I can't make one of those for the cost of a can of tomatoes!

 

[Little Rickie]

Mine works fine. Check yours against the design and burning directions again, it should work.

I can boil two qts, one at a time with one fill with a 15-20 burn . I use a tall tomato sauce can inside a squater tomato can with steel stakes. How did you load your fuel? What did you use for fuel?

 

[Jason Berard]

I did make a few errors in hole placement on the first attempt. The upper holes were too high and the lower holes were too low. On the first attempt, I used dead lower branches( pencil sized) from a fir tree. I snapped them into pieces varying from 1" to 3" long, and filled the can to the top, packing it every so often as I went. I lit it with a piece of tissue and a twig teepee on top of the rest of the fuel. It burned too fast. I just finished a new one, and will try it out later today.

What is the shorter, larger can for? I didn't see that in the photos, or in the instructions....
I did use a windscreen, and a piece of cardboard wrapped in tin foil for a base.
I made makeshift "tent stakes" out of metal coat hangers, and I wasn't too keen on the stability....I may try to redesign those for added stability, as opposed to buying titanium tent stakes.....man, I'm a cheap S.O.B.

Little Rickie, what do you use for fuel?

 

[Little Rickie]

I used the bigger can, with holes drilled in it with a 1/4 drill bit, as a wind shield and to preheat the air. The bottom of the bigger can is circled with triangular holes (8) made with a church key.

I also use simple cheap steel tent stakes from Walmart. For fuel I use sticks no thickerr than a pencel and thinner, as thin as wood matches, and no longer than an inch. They come from my Silver Maple tree in the front yard which is a soft wood. In the field try for harder wood. Doesn't matter a lot that I can notice.

Dry is key though. If you can let the broken wood sit for a day it will burn with less smoke because of the lower moisture content. I keep a small supple in a zip lock bag. The dry wood doesn't weigh much.

I mix thick and thin pieces up so its packed dense. Generally thicker pieces toward the bottom with thinner pieces in between the larger, then thinner pieces toward the top with fewer thicker pieces mixed in because it lights easier that way.

I shake the can a little to settle the wood pieces. You don't want it packed too tight, it's an experience judgment call. Your pieces sound to long and may be packed too loose so they let in a lot of air thus burn faster.

I believe the idea is for the wood to be heated to release the gas so the gas burns while the wood turns into charcoal and finally ash. I get very little smoke from my stove which I like and I think is a sign of very efficent burning.

If it screws up it's only a tin can. Recycle it and try again. I like to tinker with home made stuff like this.

 

[Jason Berard]

cool. sounds good. I'll try that and post back with results.

Thanks!

 

[Little Rickie]

has anyone made one of these?http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/pennywood.html

I made one today, and could not get mine to perform to the level they claim.
They say the stove should boil water in 10 minutes, and it took 20, and I needed to keep adding wood to the "stove", as opposed to it boiling 1 qt. on one load of wood.....

I made their penny alcohol stove last year, and am very happy with it....so I'm wondering if there are others out there who got this wood cook stove contraption to work better than I did.

You can always e-mail this guy for his advice. I have and he has been very helpfull. Once you've made a few stoves (alcohol or wood) you'll find what you like and what suits you. It's cheap, it's fun , so go at it and post you're results.

 

[TomD]

I've seen other similar designs for what are called "woodgas" stoves. The idea being, as was said, to burn off the gas, which then burns above the wood. I think if you do a Google search, some of the designs will show up.

The ones like the Sierra that have a fan and need a battery make no sense to me whatsoever.

Here's a simple design-
http://tinyurl.com/94ul2e

Here's a fancier commercial version-
http://www.trailstove.com/details.html

Another interesting design-
http://tinyurl.com/74rzqu

There are lots more-the Bush Buddy and Caldera are two commercially made wood stoves.

 

[Little Rickie]

Another interesting design-
http://tinyurl.com/74rzqu.

Excelent link and info!! I like his design.

Does anyone have an idea for a small cheap battery powered blower so I can tinker with the Sieera design idea?

I was thinking of looking through a toy store. Someone must sell then somewhere that easy to get and cost effective.

 

[Viewseeker]

i have seen this just recently...I just havent got around to building one, but does look fun, and if you get it to work....well then you just look plain old smart.. I'll keep an eye on this thread

 

[Little Rickie]

Excelent link and info!! I like his design.

Does anyone have an idea for a small cheap battery powered blower so I can tinker with the Sieera design idea?

I was thinking of looking through a toy store. Someone must sell then somewhere that easy to get and cost effective.

DUH Radio Shack

 

[Jason Berard]

I've seen other similar designs for what are called "woodgas" stoves. The idea being, as was said, to burn off the gas, which then burns above the wood. I think if you do a Google search, some of the designs will show up.

The ones like the Sierra that have a fan and need a battery make no sense to me whatsoever.

Here's a simple design-
http://tinyurl.com/94ul2e

Here's a fancier commercial version-
http://www.trailstove.com/details.html

Another interesting design-
http://tinyurl.com/74rzqu

There are lots more-the Bush Buddy and Caldera are two commercially made wood stoves.

I'm going to try #2 and #3... they both seem to have advantages over the design I was trying.....

I think efficiency is not so important if you are not carrying the fuel.

I like that it is easier to refuel #2 , and it is its own windscreen.

#3 is just plain cool!

 

[Jason Berard]

a different design...

Okay, so today during lunch I tried a new design. I may have seen one similar somewhere on the internet, but at this point, I'm not sure where.

This design is ridiculously simple to make. the only tools required are a can opener, and wire cutters. And it boiled 3 cups of water in 7 minutes once the fire was going.

The can-opener triangles at the top, act as the pot supports, and the "pot" is a large Heineken can with a wire loop attached to the top to act as the handle. There is wire mesh 5/8" above the bottom to allow good air flow to the wood from below. This took 15 minutes to make, and cost me essentially nothing! I already had the can for the pot, and the stove was an empty McCann's Oats container.

 

[woodsxc]

Jason! How could you do such a thing to a beautiful minikeg!?

My real question though, is did you use a #10 size tin can for the base? I'd imagine that it's rather bulky...

 

[Little Rickie]

Okay, so today during lunch I tried a new design. ]

Nice! How compact does it pack up?

 

[Jason Berard]

The stove, windscreen, and pot all nest. They make a 7" high by 4" diameter cylinder, and weigh 8 oz.

 

[Jason Berard]

Jason! How could you do such a thing to a beautiful minikeg!?

The Heineken can was a 24 oz. can, and I did drink it first.