5 litre keg stove help please

[Hammock_man]

I have managed to get my hands on an empty 5 litre beer keg and was thinking of making a stove. Yes I know I have said else where I would never need another stove but was thinking more along the lines of it staying in the back yard.

Having done a google and looked around I can find no real help on how to split the keg, getting the plastic bits out without ruining it and the like. The base of the keg has a loverly flat surface which when used upside down would act as a ring on a conventional cooker.

Anyway, any one have any links to web or PDF,s which are helpfull. Thanks in advance, Paddy

[tim_n]

I'd like to know as I've got one too!

[lannyman8]

some pics would help HM...

[Hammock_man]

Not a great photo!!! The bottom is similar but no plastic "bits", as I say would make a grand Hot Plate. I could just have a go with a dremel but as I only have the one, dont want to wreck it with a silly mistake.

[spandit]

The plastic bits will burn off soon enough - will be smelly but easier than trying to extract them. I made a small forge from one of these kegs

[workingdog]

i made one of these years ago in germany,and if i remember right i used a blowlamp to melt the plastic bits a bit then push em out.

[Hammock_man]

Crude but it would work. Thanks gents

[ged]

Is it stainless? It will be a nice bit of kit if it is.

When I work with steels I don't worry about mistakes. It isn't like wood. If you cut a bit of wood it's shorter, and it's going to stay shorter. You can cut steel and join it back together again so it's just like it was before you cut it. You can weld extra bits on to make it longer, wider, fatter. Do whatever you like really.

I think for that keg you'll want a flue. I'd cut a round hole in the side-wall near the bottom for the flue (so when you turn it upside down for the stove, the hole is near the top) and make a small door in the wall opposite the flue but near the middle, and maybe put some sort of grate in it standing on short legs depending on how the air circulates once it's lit. You probably want something like a 50mm-70mm flue but I shouldn't think it's very critical. I'd weld an elbow over the hole for a bit of flue pipe to simply sit on. The door could just have some clips to wedge it in place, no need to mess about with hinges until you've got it working or unless you fancy the challenge.

[Hammock_man]

Thanks GED,

As for a flue I was thinking baked bean tins coming out at 45 - 60 degrees from the side and some fire cement. I have no welding gear to do anything fancy. Also a bean tin at 90 degrees to the side to act as a feeder shoot and extra air flow. ( As in rocket stoves {think thats what there called}) I have some shelveing suppoorts which could be bolted on to act as legs. Its all got to be done with a dremal so it has to be low tech!!! Small door to get rid of the ash?



Again thanks to you all for the comments

[wingstoo]

Hope this will help...

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34143

[ged]

Thanks GED,

As for a flue I was thinking baked bean tins coming out at 45 - 60 degrees from the side and some fire cement. I have no welding gear to do anything fancy. Also a bean tin at 90 degrees to the side to act as a feeder shoot and extra air flow. ( As in rocket stoves {think thats what there called}) I have some shelveing suppoorts which could be bolted on to act as legs. Its all got to be done with a dremal so it has to be low tech!!! Small door to get rid of the ash?

The flue must not be at a shallow angle like you've drawn. It really needs to be as near as possible to vertical for most of its length.

Baked bean tins will work, but they might not last very long before they burn through. Depending on how many you eat it might not be a problem. I'd try to find a bit of pipe, stainless can have a thin wall but if it isn't stainless it needs a thicker wall to last any length of time. Incidentally fire cement is very brittle once it's set and will crack, so it isn't great stuff to try to use as glue.

Rocket stoves are usually insulated around the firebox to improve the combustion efficiency, increase flue gas temperature and so get better draught. You can get away without insulation but it won't burn so efficiently. You might be able to cast something to go in just the back of the stove so that you get some increase in firebox temperature and more of the heat comes out of the front.

Legs bolted on for stability is a good idea, especially if the legs make a wider base than the stove would itself.

The fuel feeder pipe is often angled down into the stove so that you can load it up fairly full and let the wood fall into the stove as it burns.

Nothing wrong with having a door for the ash but it's best if it's sealed so that the stove doesn't burn uncontrollably. It might be a lot of trouble for relatively little benefit. A lot of domestic wood-burning stoves have no grate and no ash pan, the wood just sits in the bottom of the stove to burn on the ash. It's solid fuels like coal that need a grate and a bottom air feed, so if you're burning just wood don't go overboard.

[Hammock_man]

Whoo tons for thought !! I did search but missed that thread. Really does look like I am going to have to get a pop rivet gun. Again thanksfor the help

[Hammock_man]

I have had an epiphany! When I saw the keg it was the flat top surface which made me think hot plate. Now I think round table top. I have a number of stoves to do the actual cooking all of which can be rested on the flat metal surface and come to no harm. When its done the biz and cooled, off it comes and the surface makes a nice little table. Plus the side can be opened up to make a nice little round cupboard.

So new plan, put legs on the keg to lift it to a nice hight, Dremel cut about 33%/50% of the side and reattach with hinges to make a little round cupboard. Would allow me to use it as a little table for mugs and/or as a base for a cooker. Too old to work at ground level these days!

Thanks again for help vis a cooker but I am going to take a different route.