The Fire Mug

[cadyak]

I have developed a real love for woodburning camp stoves. I have seen many cool designs and that is one of the neat things about MYOG. There are so many ways to do things.
I have the honey stove, really like it alot for a number of reasons, but for a few other reasons, I believe it will be for mainly sea kayak touring where I dont care as much about weight as I do volume.
I have also built a few basic double walled stoves from the quart paint can down to really small ones and I am still impressed by their performance and their weight is acceptable too. They nest perfectly inside my pots with no rattle room. I m by no means finished with playing with these designs.

That being said I seem to be able to get more consistent fire and boil from my Fire Mug and I just like the way they look. The tops and bottoms must be a standard size because I have found all kinds of lids that snap on to them for carrying all your goodies inside.
Everyone has been give a stainless travel mug at some point and they often lose lids and migrate to the back of the cupboard. They come in all shapes, sizes and thicknesses. It has both an integrated pot stand for alcohol stove mode or a separate hardware cloth stand for wood. All store inside the stove or cup.






I didnt even think about the inner cup but then I realized that the whole system goes back together and you still have a great sealed container to eat or drink out of. You can still carry your back up top jetted meth stove. (I need a cobalt stove)

[realityguy]

Looks good..Excellent idea!The only reasons I don't use wood stoves more around these parts is that most trail areas over 3500' don't allow them and the amount of soot all over everything that comes in contact with them.As long as you have all the sooty items in a separate stuff sack,that isn't a problem other than getting the things in and out of the bag without getting covered with it.Another option with yours is that you still can use the stove as a " windscreen" for an alcohol stove inside because of the open bottom which takes care of the 3500' problem..Nice going!Probably one addition I'd add... a couple holes for pins across to lift an alcohol stove up higher for a closer burn...just me..depending on the alcohol stove of course.I like the dual purpose!
Travel cups around here are about $1 each in thrift stores..and they all seem to have 10-30 of the things because Seattle is so full of coffee junkies(including me)...
Stainless is nice in that it holds up well,a little heavier than aluminum but no chance of meltdown.
Good work!..gotta go shopping and get me a couple of the cups ..er..stoves...
Another option..turn it right side up,alcohol stove in the smaller bottom with the mesh being the air intake and base..add a second similar cup down inside as a potwith enough room for air flow around the sides of the pot! ..Sorry,I've got a MacGyver mind and cheap and homemade are always the best!

[realityguy]

And..I bet the wife appreciates what you've done to her nice table...

[cadyak]

Thanks,
I have actually been waiting to drill holes for a meth stove support until I either make or get a top jetted stove and know the exact height. I am probably going to make an "acorn stove" or get a nice top jetted stove by one of you experts out there.
'the wife doesnt say too much the table, she gets aggravated by stainless shavings in the foot whenever I forget to clean up.
I dont mind so far getting a little sooty. As a matter of fact this morning the girl at the gas station was smiling real big at me and I thought, wow! she was nice.
When I got back to my car I looked in the mirror and my whole nose was black.

[zelph]

I dont mind so far getting a little sooty. As a matter of fact this morning the girl at the gas station was smiling real big at me and I thought, wow! she was nice.
When I got back to my car I looked in the mirror and my whole nose was black.

Here I thought it was my good looks and now I think I've had the same thing happen to me

I like the fact that you've zeroed in on an item and stuck with it to gain a true insight to their potential as a stove. Thanks for doing that and sharing your wisdom.

I also have seen many of the mugs at the thrift stores and have "passed" on gettting a dozen One time there was a box of at least 50 of them, different sizes and shapes and top configuration. I've even considered getting the "Thermos" type containers of the 4 cup capacity made of stainless steel. There are too many containers out there to be tried I guess the reason I passed them up was the size. I have found that I could use the quart size can with one full load of fuel and consistantly get 2 cups to boil with it.

I like the fact that you've used different hole paterns, sizes and shapes to determine what worked best.

I made a Cobalt stove top jetted it to see how it would do as a secondary stove to use in your type of design. I tried a StarLyte stove at one time for the same reason to be used in the Swiss Army stove(i think I called it a Volcano stove in the vid) The video shows the stove to be burning too hot for the cup that comes with the Swiss set. My first impression is to have fewer holes in the stove, same as the Cobalt Blue Soloist.

Watch the video:

[Ridgerunner]

I don't recall the Starlyte test with the Swiss Ranger Volcano stove set being to hot but the Cobalt looks just fine to me. I would think if the Ranger was designed to be used with the Borde Bomb, burning white gas , that it would work fine with about anything as far as denatured alcohol goes. How far was the top of the stove from the bottom of the Swiss cup? Did you time a test burn to see how long it took to boil? Nice vid. I like that cookset. Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront. They are in my Cheaper than Dirt new catalog for $9.99 still.

[Ridgerunner]

Nice design work, cadyak. Looks like you really like to play with fire. Nice idea using the stainless to eliminate the possible melting problem. What kind of weight are we talking about using the thin walled stainless?

[zelph]

I don't recall the Starlyte test with the Swiss Ranger Volcano stove set being to hot but the Cobalt looks just fine to me. I would think if the Ranger was designed to be used with the Borde Bomb, burning white gas , that it would work fine with about anything as far as denatured alcohol goes. How far was the top of the stove from the bottom of the Swiss cup? Did you time a test burn to see how long it took to boil? Nice vid. I like that cookset. Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront. They are in my Cheaper than Dirt new catalog for $9.99 still.

I think the StarLyte did ok once the right height was established. The Cobalt is burning way way too inefficient in the video. I had my nose over the setup while having the cup in place and whoa!!!!!!!!!whoa!!!!!!! that was smarts about ripped my nostrils apart The nose knows when it's not burning right I'm using HEET with bleach and camel urine or maybe I should refer to it as "Bad Fuel" after all I opened it yesterday and left the top off overnight Ohhhhh!!!!!!I needed that laugh (inside joke there folks )

No boil test were done and I didn't get a measurement on distance from pot to stove.

I've come to the conclusion that the SuperStove will work the best. I'll have to go out and give it a try.....be back later!

[realityguy]

Well..they had a shipment of about 20 stainless cups that came in for $1 each..I got sidetracked(Wow..that's never happened before! .. )..and ended up with this "junk--->


Got a brand new stainless coffee press (my lightweight reshaped one is on the right)$2,a nice "new balance" stainless cup,a firstaid kit for 50 cents,and a nice folding handle PINT CASCADE-CUP for 50 cents..WOOHOO!!

(and about $60-70 of craigs goodies... .)

I figured this New Balance cup would make a good one for a stove base..all the rubber sticking out are already holes for either an alcohol stove support(or pot support or both) or air holes..makes my job easy..This does also have an inside stainless cup.If I can figure out how to get them apart without destroying either cup,I'll be set!

[cadyak]

good score on the cups.
That one with the grippies is perforated already. It makes for some nice pre-drilled aeration.

I just weighed most of them, including qt. paint can bottom pan, mesh pot stand and 8oz paint can lid. The lightest was 3 oz and the heaviest was 5.5 oz. the cups are pretty heavy but handy and they help the lightest gage ones keep their shape.
I have one that weighs 4.4 with the cup. I havent drilled out the bottom yet.
I will try and do a real boil test and make a video of the flame pattern. I have kept many of them burning for an hour before they start to get clogged. I think the stoker hole helps aerate the really late added wood.
My favorite one is 5.1 ounces. It is a little shorter but thicker and fits in my ole timey grease pot.