Supplies and Tools Needed for Alcohol Stove Construction

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Supplies and Tools Needed for Alcohol Stove Construction

Hole Making

Making Holes

There are a number of ways to make holes for your jets and vents.  Some methods are crude and only need a simple pocket knife, while others are a bit more sophisticated and use special machine drills. 

Depending on the stove design you select, your method of choice for hole making will likely affect your appearance of your final product.  Some methods will also allow for fancy setups which are otherwise not possible with a hammer and nail or Swiss Army Knife.

Jet Hole Tools

• an electric drill can be used with small bits and even with needles and pins.  The Dremel AA battery operated Golf Cleaning, Pet Nail Grooming or Manicure Kit can be purchased for under $20 - just make sure you get a 1/32 inch collet to hold your tiny drill or needle.  Other hobby drills work very nicely for stove making.

• a pin vise or even some hobby knife handles (with a crossed collet) can be used to hand drill holes with small bits. 

• vise grips, pin vises, hobby knife handles, etc can securely hold needles or pins that can be forcefully punctured into your can

• a needle or pin can be hose clamped to a rod or bolt.  See  Scott Henderson's  Needle Clamped to a Rod Tool.

• a hammer, mallet or block of wood can be used to tap push pins, pin vises, etc. 

Scott Henderson's Cork Stopper

• a needle or pin placed in a piece of cork just the right size can successfully be hammered with some control.

• a thumbtack and your thumb can be used to make holes.  You can either push it in part way to make very small holes or all the way to make 0.024" holes.

• the tip of a sharp knife may be used to make crude jets.  This technique is often used for stove making in the field.

• Fiskars Hand Punches - besides punching special shapes such as hearts, stars and animals, you may also find one that punches 1/16"round holes.

• EK Success Paper Shapers Paper Punches - besides punching special shapes such as hearts, stars, animals, you may also find one that punches 1/16"round holes.

Drills

• Small bits can be purchased at a jewelry repair/supply store or hobby shop (model train shop).  See Drill Size Chart below.

  #80 can be used if you want really tiny holes, but you may need to decrease jet spacing for your stove to work optimally

  #74 - #71 (needle size) commonly used size for jetted alcohol stoves

  #55 - #57 (push pin size) make for more dependable jets compared to smaller jets and are more suitable for burning rubbing alcohol

• Other small drill bits -1.30mm (0.05inch, 3/64inch or push pin size) or smaller.  See Drill Size Chart below.

• Small needles - 0.6 mm (0.024inch) diameter, such as Dritz Sharps, Size 8 (Part #56 S-8)

  Needles can either be used to make holes in aluminum by either puncturing or drilling with a high speed drill.

   

  Note:  There are two basic numbering systems for needles - the European ("Number Metric" in hundredths of millimeters - not nanometers) and the American (Singer).  Most needle packages list both sizes.  Many other needle brands still have their own sizing system.  See Sewing Needle Size Chart below.
  

   

• pins

• Tacks/Push Pins - can be either pushed in partially or completely.

Jet Sizes

Jet size can be important for any type of combustible stove using jets.  Smaller sized jets can lead to "blowout" of the flame, while larger jets can lead to a richer air/fuel mix and more dependable flame.

Here are a few jet sizes used by popular stoves:

Don Johnston's Photon Stove - alcohol

0.024" (0.61mm) jets

Aaron Rosenbloom's Brasslite Solo Stove - alcohol

0.027" (0.7 mm) jets

Antigravity (Tin Man's) Pepsi Can Stove - alcohol

#55 drill (0.052" 1.321mm) or

#57 drill (0.0430" 1.092mm)

Primus OmniFuel

45 (0.018" 0.45mm) for butane/propane

37 (0.015" 0.37mm) for Multi Fuel

28 (0.011" 0.28mm) for all other liquids (kerosene, diesel, jet fuel)-smaller size allows for better air/fuel mixture

Primus Himalaya/MultiFuel

35 (0.014" 0.35mm) for gas and all lead free gas types

28 (0.011" 0.28mm) for all other liquids (kerosene, diesel, jet fuel)-smaller size allows for better air/fuel mixture

Mountain Safety Research SimmerLite

(between #79-#78, 0.0145-0.0160", 0.368-0.406mm) for white gas and unleaded auto gas

Mountain Safety Research WhisperLite

(less than #80 0.0135" 0.343mm) for white gas and unleaded auto gas

Mountain Safety Research WhisperLite Internationale

G (between #80-#79, 0.0135-0.0145", 0.343-0.368mm) Jet for white gas and unleaded auto gas

K (less than #80 0.0135" 0.343mm) Jet for kerosene and jet fuel

Mountain Safety Research DragonFly

DG (between #79-#78, 0.0145-0.0160", 0.368-0.406mm) Jet for white gas and unleaded auto gas

DK (less than #80 0.0135" 0.343mm) Jet is for kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel.

Mountain Safety Research XGK Expedition

XG or GK (between #80-#79, 0.0135-0.0145", 0.343-0.368mm) Jet is used for white gas, unleaded auto gas, and aviation gas

X (less than #80 0.0135" 0.343mm) Jet is for kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel

Optimus

2500 Jet for stoves 00, 1, 5,45,48,210,510,100/4128 old #71 - kerosene

2502 (0.32mm 0.013") Nipple for 1, 5, old 5R, 45, 48, 80, 123 - kerosene

2503 Nipple for No. 2 stove - kerosene

2504 Jet for stove 3 - kerosene

2506 Jet for stoves 88, 99, old 123R - multifuel (petrol/white gas/kerosene)

2507 Jet for stoves 531

2508 (0.51mm 0.020") Alcohol jet for stove 11, 111, 199, 535A - Jet 'A' for alcohol use

2509 (0.30mm 0.012") Jet for stoves 8R, 11, 111, 123R, 199, 5R - Jet 'M' for multifuel use (kerosene/diesel/white gas)

2510 (0.38mm 0.015") Jet for earlier 111B stoves - Jet 'G' for gasoline use with smaller jet hole

Optimus Hunter Stove

2509 (0.30mm 0.012") - White gasoline, Coleman fuel

Optimus No. 111 HIKER Multifuel Expedition Stoves - Source - Optimus International AB

2508 (0.51mm 0.020") for 111C stove - Jet 'A' for alcohol use

2509 (0.30mm 0.012") for 111 and 111C stoves - Jet 'M' for multifuel use (kerosene/diesel/white gas)

2510 (0.38mm 0.015") Jet for earlier 111B stoves - Jet 'G' for gasoline use with smaller jet hole

Note: US company gave the following measurements:

2508 (0.0175" 0.44mm)

2509 (0.014" 0.36mm)

2510 (0.015" 0.38mm)

Optimus Svea/Climber

2506 Jet - White gasoline, Coleman fuel

Optimus Nova - Source - Optimus International AB

8100 (0.32mm 0.013") Jet - Kerosene/paraffin, white gasoline/petrol, Coleman fuel, diesel #1, rape seed (colza) fuel

FSP Stove - kerosene

0.60mm (0.024") with an 8mm hex head and an M6 standard metric thread or

1.0mm (0.039") jet with 4 wires taken from a wire brush pushed through so as to reduce the effective size

Drill Size Charts

Drill Size Chart

Sewing Needle Size Chart

Vent Hole Tools

• A sharp hobby knife with a #11 blade or a utility knife are great for scoring around the large circles, such as top vents of chimney and open jet stoves.  A knife can also be used to make crude jet or venation holes.

• EK Success Paper Shapers Paper Punches - punches special shapes such as hearts, stars, animals, 1/16" and 1/2" round holes, etc.

• Fiskars Hand Punches - punches special shapes such as hearts, stars, animals, 1/16" and 1/8" round holes, etc.

• 1/4" hole punch - these are good for making 1/4" holes in aluminum cans and for windscreens.  If you need to get over the lip of a can, you can modify most paper punches by taking a pair of needle nose pliers and wiggling you the center column until it and the paper guide come out.

• Unibit - this tapered bit is great for creating or enlarging clean holes from 1/8" to 1/2"

• Harbor Freight Hand Punch - this under US$20 tool can punch 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 4.5mm, 5.5mm, 6mm and 7mm holes

• 5 Jr. punch - this pricey (US$75) punch is able to punch out 1/16 - 9/32" round holes, as well as various other shaped holes.

• Punch - great for making holes in metal where you can't get a another tool to fit.  You will need to ensure that you can support the back of what you are punching.

• Greenlee punch/Knockout Hole Punch/Q-max cutter/sheet metal punch/hole cutter/chassis cutter/chassis punch/panel cutter - great for cutting out clean holes in metal cans.

Harbor Freight Tools has a very economical manual knockout punch set for under US$20.

• Hole Saw - 1 3/4 inch hole saws can be used to cut out the center main fuel port in 12oz Coke Cola type aluminum cans.  Cuts tends to be a little rough - but quick.

• Adjustable Circle Hole Cutter - Can be used to cut large holes in the top of stoves.

• Can Openers (aka - church key, churchkey, bottle/can opener, can/bottle opener, can piercer, triangle head can opener) - can be used to make crude triangular cuts in cans with rolled rims.  They come in several different sizes and larger ones may be bent and/or reshape to allow of different sized cuts.

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