DIY wood stove flue

In order to use my wood stove in a tent I wanted something to protect the canvas from getting scorched by the flue.

I've seen several on Amazon but all are around £40 or more but when Lidl was selling these bird feeders for £3.99 I decided to make my own.

If you want to do similar here is a Amazon link for the type of bird feeders I used;

I began by removing the lid and the hanging bail for use later with a pair of pliers...

Next to open the bottom I drilled a hole so I could use tin snips to open it up leaving approximately 1cm overhang.

Again using the tin snips I cut the over hang to form little flaps that I could fold over the bottom ring at the base of the fatball holder.

I repeated this on a second bird feeder and used rebar tying wire to tie the two together.

Lastly I straightened the two bail hangers to form hooks and reattached them so it could be hung from the spark arrester on the flue.

The finished product looks pretty good I think for £8

If you want to watch the video of how I did this click here and if you like it please give it a thumbs up and consider subscribing 👍

Take care
Roo

DIY Backpacking Alcohol Can Stove

When hiking keeping weight to a minimum is key and money might be tight so making an ultra lightweight alcohol stove from empty drinks cans could be the way to go as they're often found discarded on your travels so are completely free and your helping tidy the environment when you repurpose them this way, win-win!

These can be made quickly and easily with a simple multitool from your EDC or you can use commonly found items such as scissors and pliers

You do need to be careful with the edges of the can as they will be very sharp so wear suitable gloves, you can see my video on how I made this one here

As ever I'd love to hear what you think so please leave your comments in the box below or contact me directly

Take care

Roo 

DIY Beer Can Oil Candle

Power cuts used to be common when I was a kid and altough the national grid is more reliable today they can happen at anytime, this is a handy way to make an emergency light source if you don't have any lamps or candles (your home should of course have candles and lamps too!)

Get an empty beer or soda can and cut it in half with a knife or scissors and cut a strip of cotton cloth to act as a wick, you can also used paper towels as a wick if that's easier

Then pour some regular cooking oil into the bottom half, it doesn't matter what oil you use the only difference will be what scent the flame gives off as it burns the oil, place the top half over the bottom and put your improvised wick through the ringpull hole

Now dip the wick down into the oil as far as you can before pulling up and trimming at the point where its soaked with oil and light as you would any other candle

You can see this in my top five emergency hacks for beer cans video on my YouTube channel here;

Let me know what you think in the comments section, what other uses would you suggest?

As ever thanks for your time!

Take care

Roo

DIY backyard blacksmith hand forged ash rake for outbacker stove

A while ago I made a DIY forge for £5 here I use it to make an ash rake tool for my outbacker portable woodburner for camping

I used a fencing pin which many building sites will give you for free if you ask or can be purchased from builders merchants for about £1 and 1kg of charcoal so total cost was less than £2 and took about half an hour

Its not the prettiest as you'd expect using rolled steel bar but it will do the job

As ever I'd love to hear what you guys thought so please leave a comment or a thumbs up and if you liked and maybe you'd consider subscribing

Take care

Roo

#backyard #blacksmith #project

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Buddy Burners the campfire in your pocket

A "Buddy Burner" is a simple fire in a tin can of some sort usually fueled by wax that has been added to corrugated cardboard

These simple emergency stoves can be used to cook on but could also provide a limited heat source, here it is heating some chicken noodles in my Latinaric Stainless Canteen Set

Please note this is an affiliate link and as an Amazon Associate I may earn from qualifying purchases on this link but you will not be charged any extra, I have not been paid to review this product

All you require is an empty tin, in this case I'm using an altoids tin, this is smaller than many I've seen other people make but it fits nicely in your trouser pocket and as it has a lid makes snuffing out the flame safe and easy whilst keeping things clean and tidy when not in use 👍

I mark the cardboard and cut into strips that are the height of my tin, in the case 2cms wide, then I melt some candle wax and pour over the top

The safest way to do this is to place the wax into a container that is gradually warmed up in a pot full of water, so long as you don't boil the water the wax won't be heated to the point that it can begin burning

You can watch how I made mine here;

The amount of heat your burner will give off and how long it lasts will depend on the size of tin you use but this little pocket campfire easily boils water and heats food

I just pushed four wire tent pegs into the ground to act as a pot stand and you're good to go but of course you can find other means of supporting your pot depending on what your using

Take care

Roo

Cheap and simple DIY blacksmith forge

For a while now I've been wanting to make some items for campfire cooking with my cast iron cookware, but I didn't have a forge so I decided to make one!

Now I wanted to make this as cheaply as possible so this is what I used;

1. Sand
2. Plaster
3. Disposable BBQ
4. Hand crank BBQ blower
5. Washing machine waste hose 
6. Steel tube

I only had to buy the BBQ (£1.99) and the blower (£1.80) as I already had the other items

First I removed the grill from the disposable BBQ and emptied the charcoal out for later, this tin tray would be the basis for my forge

Then I took the small section of steel pipe from my BBQ blower and I wrapped it in clingfilm and with my penknife I cut a small opening in one side of the tray that this could be passed through

I mixed equal amounts of dry sand and plaster until the mixture was uniform in colour before adding water and mixing again until I was happy with the consistency

This mixture was placed in the BBQ tray and shaped to form my fire bowl ensuring that the small steel pipe section wasn't obstructed as that will be for my air supply

The next day the mixture had set so I removed the small section of pipe and clingfilm and set a fire using the charcoal from the BBQ, then I connected the blower to the fire bowl with steel pipe and the washing machine hose which was a perfect fit!

After a few minutes I was able to heat a 10mm steel allen key to a nice cherry red colour which I was happy with so I declared the forge a success

I had an old pump for inflatable air beds that also fitted the washing machine hose so gave that a go too and it was much better

So it is possible to make a cheap working small forge from these materials that are readily available but add a small electric pump if you can for a much improved performance



Take care
Roo

Cleaning wood burning stove glass

Wood burning stoves are a great addition to any home, you have a heat source independent from the national utility grids.

Many have glass doors so that you can enjoy watching the flames which is much better evening entertainment than your television!

Even if you only use good quality seasoned timber you will get a build up of tar on this glass and will want to clean it occasionally.

Many companies have developed various solutions that usually cost about £5 for a litre bottle.

This isn't expensive but in my opinion it is unnecessary.

Glass is naturally non stick so all that's required is a mild abrasive, simply place a piece of kitchen towel paper into water before dabbing into your ash pan so that it has ash stuck to it.

Then wipe across the stove glass, the ash will lift away the tar then simply use a fresh kitchen paper towel to wipe away the residue to have wonderfully clear glass so you can enjoy your next fire to the full.

I hope this has been of help to you and will save you wasting money, take care.

Roo

How to make a paper briquette, free fire logs!

Part of daily life in the modern world is receiving junk through your letterbox, from free local newspapers to sales leaflets.

But you can recycle this waste into something useful.

If you have young children they will love the messy play whilst helping you make free paper briquettes or logs for your fire! 😉

You can view the video I made showing the process here;

The process is simple, you start by shredding or tearing the the paper and soaking in a bucket of water until its completely saturated.

A paddle mixer and a drill help speed up getting the paper into same consistency as paper mache, its not necessary just more fun! 

Once you have made your paper mache mix simply scoop it out and if you have a briquette press fill it and compress to remove as much water as possible, if you don't have a press just squeeze it and form into block shapes by hand

Leave the bricks to dry for a couple of days or if the weather is poor store indoors where its warm and dry like an airing cupboard for about a week to fully dry out. 

Once dry simply start a fire as you normally would with appropriate tinder and kindling and add your free  recycled paper fire logs

Take care

Roo