Risk's Forge

Risk's

Forge

A wood burning camping stove
that works with a little fan

WindScreen Forge 28 Aug 03
This is a one ounce version of the forge. Instead of being self contained, it offers only the minimal structure necessary to use a forced air assisted wood fire. Details can be seen on the WindScreen Forge page.

Version 202 incorporates a new fire pan and the computer fan. I have written a page on the construction of the new stove which I hope you will read and be persuaded to copy or improve.

The weight of the stove is now within my goal, less than 5 ounces. "Fuel", that is the battery, brings the weight up to about 6 ounces which was the weight of my Kettle.

The design was cleaned up a bit by using a panel hole punch for the air holes. No pop rivets are now needed. I built the prototype in just under an hour.

I made a small change to the stove for version 201. Instead of using the homemade fan, I chose to use a fan available over the counter. This is a small computer fan available from Radio Shack for about $12. I am running it off a single 9 volt transistor radio battery. The computer fan weighs much less than the homemade fan and packs smaller.

Next change necessary will be to make a new burn can that has an opening just right for the fan. I will take pictures during the construction that will make it easier for others to copy this little stove. With the new changes, the stove may well be into the single hour for construction arena. I would be pleased to have others try to make one and give me feedback about the construction and the instructions.

I made a few changes from the forge presented as the Alph version below. I removed the bottom from the outside can to remove an ounce of weight and to allow the can to slip into a 3 cup pot by AntiGravity. In the picture above, the AntiGravity 3 cup pot is on the stove. Weight of the components are now:

Firepot 4.7 oz (134 g)
Blower 1.6 oz (45 g)
Total without battery 6.3 oz (179 g)
battery 0.8 oz (23 g)
Total with battery 7.1 oz (202 g)
Total cook kit, with 3-cup pot, pot handle, lighter, fire starter and stuff sack: 13 oz (369g)

Here the stove slips into the 3 cup pot very nicely, making for a compact bundle. The 3 cup pot is 5 inches in diameter. The lighter, and fire starting strips are below the stove in the pot.

The goal of this test is to design a lightweight wood burning camping stove with supplied air pressure. This sort of forge has been used to heat rivets for many years and recently was adapted to backpacking with the Zip Stoves by Sierra. Unfortunately the Zip stove weighs more than a pound. I believe the idea can be improved with much lighter components. This page is from the first prototype I built. It is a fully functional stove which can already be used successfully.

Weight of the stove is about 7 and a third ounces plus 0.8 oz for a single AA battery. The stove fits easily into a 2 quart pan. Here it is in the 2 quart pan by AntiGravity Gear.

Unpacked, the stove consists of a blower unit, a fire pan, and three pot supports. The pot supports are of steel and were cut from a cheap pole about 3/4 inch long. The fire pan consists of an outer canister made from a 5 inch diameter coffee can and a large tuna fish can. The tuna can has 8 quarter-inch holes drilled near the base of the can. the two cans are joined with tabs held in place by steel pop rivets.

The blower is made from a $2 Radio Shack motor and runs on 1.5 volts. The motor comes with a small brass gear on the axle which works great as a place to epoxy glue a disk of aluminum. After letting the glue dry, I turned the disk on and then used a small pen to mark the actual disk for final cutting. Then, the disk was cut radially with a tin snip and the wings bent up a bit to act as a fan blade

The motor with it's attached fan blade was glued to a wooden support inside a small tomato juice can. The can acts as a good duct to direct the air from the motor. This blower is now set near or even touching the fire can and the air it blows comes through the holes in the base of the tuna can, making a hot fire possible even in a small can.

Here the fire has just been started and the fan is brought near the opening to the fire can

Within 30 seconds the fire catches and begins to burn well. To moderate the flame, the blower can be moved closer or further from the opening on the fire can. The picture below shows the stove being used to cook. Sticks up to the diameter of a small finger can be added to the fire as it burns between the cooking pot and the lip of the fire pot. To begin cooking, one should have a hat full of these sticks available above and beyond the fuel used to start the fire.