# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  Ever built a rocket stove?

## Wildthang

The rocketstove is an amazing little device, and it gets hot as heck with very little wood. Hobo's and people in impoverished country's have been using them for years. They are so simple to make, it's not even funny! I built one, and it will heat water and cook like a champ. There are all kinds of designs and instructions on the internet, but basically you only need 2 tin cans to build a simple temporary rocket stove!

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## gryffynklm

That is a great article in Solar Cookers World Network. I have been fiddling around with brick versions covered with adobe on and off for a few years. 

HEre is a link to the article. 

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Rocket_stove

----------


## Rick

So that's kinda like a Dakota fire hole above ground. Cool.

----------


## gryffynklm

Good description rick, hadn't realized that until now.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

I have been working on heavy steel version for weeks. I'll try and get some pics up soon. Thanks for the post. I have some revisions to do to the design after reading this.

----------


## Rick

Stick with me, Karl. You never know where my mind is going to wander. Pull up a chair next to me and we'll both watch.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

Here is where the project was, unfinished and not happy with it.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I cut the legs off for a redo!

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Turned it 90 degrees and welded some new railroad spike legs.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

added a coat of BBQ paint and I love it now...just needs a test fire.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## crashdive123

Add a shelf to your feed chamber.....wood on top.....air intake on bottom.  That's what makes them so efficient.  Also beware that if you don't add an insulating layer and outer (or make and inner flu) cover that metal is going to get reeeeeeeeeeeal hot.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

> Add a shelf to your feed chamber.....wood on top.....air intake on bottom.  That's what makes them so efficient.  Also beware that if you don't add an insulating layer and outer (or make and inner flu) cover that metal is going to get reeeeeeeeeeeal hot.


I plan to add the shelf to feed it. It is .134" thick to handle the heat, certainly not a coffee can.

----------


## crashdive123

I know it's thick.  That wasn't my concern  -  getting anything or anyone too close to it was.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

> I know it's thick.  That wasn't my concern  -  getting anything or anyone too close to it was.


I agree that is a concern...not sure how a fully insulated stove would heat a camp? it will get hot...it goes without saying, don't touch it.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

Having read up on the rocket stove. I guess that is really not what I built. Guess I have kind of hybrid between a rocket and a hobo. I'll add the shelf today and try that and see how it goes.

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

Test Burn, used (2) 2 1/2" pipes with a plate of steel on top for the air intake for the test. So, yes it neds an air intake, I think smaller than what I used, though I could see a difference blocking the intake. I'll weld a shelf in at 1 1/2" The wood I used was barely dry (stuff that I had mowed down with the bush hawg) It'll make a great little stove for the boat for Hawg Hunting (We may get to go in January) A cleanout would make a nice addition as well. The "camp" fire I had beside it used 5+ times the wood in same amount of time with a negligeable difference in heat being put out. This was with softwood in the stove and hardwood in the "camp" fire.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Rick

Pretty cool...er....warm....er.....you know what I mean.

----------


## natertot

Nice work there CS!

----------


## COWBOYSURVIVAL

I thought it would prove difficult to light, but using just a couple of slivers of fatwood it lit right up. I had gathered a jacket pocket full of fatwood and didn't need but a few slivers the draft pulls the flame upwards, you get a good complete burn, not like a true Rocket Stove but the concept still helps.

----------


## gryffynklm

Nice build, it looks like you are on the right track.

----------


## Wildthang

If you build the stove with an insulated double wall around the heating chamber, it gets even hotter, and it keeps the outside cooler to prevent burns. I am having a 304 stainless steel elbow fabricated for my next rocket stove because when you insulate them, the elbow area gets super hot and will melt plain steel after time. But the 304 SS will take a consistant 1200 degrees without deteriorating.
It is fun to experiment with these stoves!

----------


## 6string

Heres a couple clips of one that i built a couple years back. Very efficient, and fun to build:P

----------


## B-urban83

> Here is where the project was, unfinished and not happy with it.
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> I cut the legs off for a redo!
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> Turned it 90 degrees and welded some new railroad spike legs.
> ...


You actually have 2 cooking surfaces with this version since you used a box version rather than a cylinder.
basically a burner, and a warmer.  depends on how hot each surface gets, both could be used as a burner.

----------


## Wildthang

> Test Burn, used (2) 2 1/2" pipes with a plate of steel on top for the air intake for the test. So, yes it neds an air intake, I think smaller than what I used, though I could see a difference blocking the intake. I'll weld a shelf in at 1 1/2" The wood I used was barely dry (stuff that I had mowed down with the bush hawg) It'll make a great little stove for the boat for Hawg Hunting (We may get to go in January) A cleanout would make a nice addition as well. The "camp" fire I had beside it used 5+ times the wood in same amount of time with a negligeable difference in heat being put out. This was with softwood in the stove and hardwood in the "camp" fire.
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.


Cowboy, I am wondering if a damper in the air intake part of the stove would give better control of the combustion process. I havent had time to build my new and improved model yet, but I am thinking of giving the damper concept a try! I would think that anytime you burn something, being able to regulate the combustion air would be an advantage.

----------


## TresMon

Per ratio you need three times more _length_ of heat tube than that of the fire box + intake tube volume.

Yep- all this talk of new ultra efficient, cheap to make rocket stove are nothing more than modern versions of what Rick said- Primitive Dakota stoves.

----------


## rockriver

This is among one of the projects I am going to tackle once I get back to the mountains.  I would do it now, but it's just one more thing to fill the moving truck.

----------


## wholsomback

Great projectbe good for a crab boil.

----------


## canid

I highly recommend the book "Rocket Mass Heaters" by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson for a good idea on how elaborate you can get with them. At Ianto and Linda Smiley's school they do nifty stuff like rocket stove heated beds, benches and flooring.

----------


## Echo2

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I have the other photos of completion....haven't run it yet.

----------


## rebel

That's lookin great echo2.  I'm thinking about one like this...http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...6B65C6E9C1AC35

----------


## intothenew

> I highly recommend the book "Rocket Mass Heaters" by Ianto Evans and Leslie Jackson for a good idea on how elaborate you can get with them. At Ianto and Linda Smiley's school they do nifty stuff like rocket stove heated beds, benches and flooring.



I apologize if I side track too much, but this is kinda sorta on subject. And sorry for not catching that comment sooner, I guess my mind was not in this vein in February.

Canid, have you helt, felt, or smelt one of those "Rocket Mass Heaters"? I ask because I have at least two projects coming up that will benefit greatly from the concept. "Mass heater", I am OK with. When you add the "Rocket" to that, I get serious concerns. My main concern revolves around flue temperature. In some cases it is purported to be as low as 90 degrees F, that will allow condensation and associated acidity. That just seems dirty and dangerous. Back draft has to be a big concern. Should they not be called an "Icarus Stove" is my personal thought.

I am honestly scared of one, but still curious and undecided in just what I am going to build. Obviously, I haven't read the book. I am looking for some first hand experience from someone who has/is living with one before I can consider that plunge.

----------


## Echo2

What I have read and watched....the real trick is to have the insulation around the flu.....it keeps the heat focused.

This particular design was made for areas where there was very little fuel.....and folks needed to boil water.

Once lit and up to temp.....they don't smoke.

----------


## intothenew

For a "stove", sure, and the flue is vertical. 

For a "heater", the insulation is around the reactor and the flue is horizontal?

----------


## rebel

> What I have read and watched....the real trick is to have the insulation around the flu.....it keeps the heat focused.
> 
> This particular design was made for areas where there was very little fuel.....and folks needed to boil water.
> 
> Once lit and up to temp.....they don't smoke.


Your right.  I see that now, and will be making one like yours.

----------


## Echo2

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## intothenew

A diffuser and offset under that pan?

----------


## Echo2

yup....I'll get a pic.

----------


## rebel

You did a nice job on that Echo2.

----------


## RobinD69

Aewsome pics I was planning a similar stove your pics will help alot.

----------


## garden-ed

I am thinking of building a rocket heater for canning food.  I came across a company called Dragon Heaters in Houston that manufactures rocket heater cores.       Will one of these heater work for canning?

----------


## Rick

Depends on the type of canning you want to do. If you are using a hot water bath canner and can keep it at a boil for the recommended amount of time then I suppose it will. If you intend to use a pressure canner then the temperature must be closely regulated. Having said that, our ancestors canned on wood stoves so I would imagine you can use one. You'll just have to watch the temperature closely.

----------


## sofasurfer

I just made a rocket stove. Picture included. I am disappointed. It did not get real hot. I think I should see an inferno kind of flame from the air rushing into the base. I did not. I had just a burning pile of sticks. Any idea what I did wrong? Other than that, I did make a pan of scrambled aggs that turned out good and only took a minute if 2 to cook.

----------


## kylemorenatural

hi 
that's a good one now see what you think of this for keeping the tunnel warm in the winter
pats new tunnel june 2013 007.JPG

----------


## randyt

I've been thinking about a rocket mass heater for boiling maple sap.

----------


## Lupa

I've been trying to make one, and with the can setup I realized mine failed because there wasn't enough airflow for the flame to actually get very high. My brain is struggling to understand these things - I realize I need the whys and wherefores before I can really grasp the process.

----------


## birdman6660

im building a rocket mass heater .. same basic concept .. plans and pix at richsoil.com   a few videos too .. they work great and yes get " freaky " hot heat your abode with very little wood as the stove stores heat very efficiently ... YES the summer is over and Im off work and able to get back on here  wooo hoooo   ! ! !

----------

