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Finish Building Your Rocket Stove

I've made a number of Rocket Stoves from #10 cans so far. (They are not difficult to make, but be sure to wear gloves, or you'll cut yourself)

Here are various photos of different stages of construction.

1. Cutting the hole for the 4-inch elbow joint.

2. Making the metal O-ring from the can lid.

3. Inserting the elbow into the hole that you cut. (remember, since the can is curved, the hole needs to be a little wider than 4 inches in order for the 4-inch pipe to fit. So hole will end up being about 4 inches tall and about 4 1/8 inches wide [as measured along the surface of the can]).

 

Not shown: After putting in the elbow joint, you add another 6 1/2 to 7-inch section to the top of the elbow piece. Then you pour in vermiculite to about 1 inch from the top of the pipe (be sure to pack it down. It insulates better if it's packed well). Then you put the O-ring over the top of the pipe and push it down firmly against the vermiculite. The hole in the O-ring should be a tight fit over the pipe.

Finally,  here are photos of a finished Rocket Stove from different angles.

 

Not shown: I have found that the Rocket Stove is a little easier to work with if you add a small section of pipe to the bottom entrance of the elbow joint. That way you can easily lay longer sticks onto the tray for burning. However, the fire burns just as well without this feature.

Rocket Stoves work best when the cooking vessel is a little bit smaller in size than the width of the stove top.  Since this is a compact version of the Rocket Stove,  a compact sized cooking vessel would work best.

I hope this helps you to build your own Rocket Stove.

If you would rather buy one (similar to the above), CLICK HERE

--George