# Pics of an old rocket stove.



## Dr. Prepper (Dec 20, 2012)

This morning while cleaning out an area in one of our barns I stumbled across this rocket stove that my daughter build several years ago. Since I have seen a few threads here about how to build rocket stoves I thought I would take a few pics. Enjoy.








#1 The stove is made from two 5 gal. metal buckets. The interior piping is 4" galv. pipe from a big-box store. I think it was one 36" length of pipe and one 90° elbow. She put legs on it because we sometimes had it working on a flammable surface and the bottom would get warm. The three angle iron pieces on top is to keep the pan or pot above the flame. Both cans are full of vermiculite for insulation. When the stove is in full operation we try to maintain a 0" to 1" flame coming out of the pipe. We found that a flame any taller than 1" is wasteful and will scorch your food quickly.








#2 I stuck some twigs into the burning chute to show where the fuel goes when the stove is in operation. There is a divider baffle under the sticks to allow airflow into the burning area. The three legs also give the stove more stabilization as it is kind of tall and she was afraid it would tip over with a big pot of chilli on top.








#3 The handles help to carry it when hot. The little access door is used to fill the area inside with high temperature insulation. We used vermiculite - it's light weight, excellent hi-temp insulation, and you can usually buy it at the garden centers.








#4 Sticks ready to burn. The nice thing about the rocket stove is that the fuel is everywhere and it does not have to be 100% dry, seasoned, or any particular type of wood. We have even cooked a meal with straw from the barn. Another good thing about a good hot fire in a rocket stove is that there is almost no telltale smoke if you keep the fire good and hot.








#5 This view shows the location of the air intake baffle. The sticks are placed on top of the baffle and slowly shoved into the fire as they burn up. The air rushes into the stove under the baffle and creates a blow torch effect where the sticks are burning. This does several things - burns very hot with a tiny fire, burns almost anything that is flammable, and burns with enough efficiency that almost no smoke is created.


----------



## yzingerr (Dec 9, 2012)

good stuff, thanks for sharing. I have never seen or heard of a rocket stove


----------



## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Looks like a moonshiner stove lol


----------



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Very good stuff we need more of this


----------



## Desert Marine (Nov 20, 2012)

Videos for making them are all over youtube. Just do a search for Rocket Stove. Here is one for you with instructions on how to make one with #10 cans: Share or embed this video - YouTube


----------



## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

im def doing


----------



## Gallo Pazzesco (Dec 22, 2012)

Dr Pepper, thanks for posting! Much appreciated!

Any way we could impose upon you to take some pictures from the top looking down into the pipe?

Any way to see it disassembled, or is it all welded together?

Again, thank you for sharing these pics. I've never seen one made out of 5 gallon buckets. I've made more than a few out of #10 cans, but I've been wanting to make a bigger one or two. Even had an idea to try to make one out of a 55 gallon drum.


----------



## Dr. Prepper (Dec 20, 2012)

Sure - I'll dig it out again tomorrow and take a pic from the top. I don't want to take it all apart because it's full of tiny pieces of vermiculite and because it is permanently fastened together. I know that we have a few of the little rocket cook stoves made of #10 cans out there in the barn, too. 

About 5 years ago we used the one in the pics above to make maple syrup in a big canning pot. We used about 10 gallons of sap and three big piles of sticks and twigs to make one pint of syrup. So the following year we built a concrete block fire box (called an ARCH) with a 30 gal. pan on top. We used about a million gallons of sap and ended up with 5 one gallon bottles of very good maple syrup. Kind of fun.


----------



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Stumbled on to this set of plans a rocket stove bake oven
http://www.rocketstove.org/images/stories/rocket baking oven manual november 2008.pdf


----------



## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

I would really like to see more on this subject. Sure we Hit hard on security and that is a must . But You have to live. That means water,food staying warm,dry. ect.
I really am one of those that is not afraid of much but I do not want to be freezing cold 24/7. Any good/better ways I can find to keep living areas warm I am all ears.
Even without Electric we plan to have running water and hot water. Maybe not unlimited but we will have it.
I can cook a rabbit on a small pile of brush and live off it for a long time, with nothing but what I have with me but I sure don't want to live that way for a long time.
I have seen many different stoves This rocket is new to me I find it interesting and flexible
Post up your plans your projects the good the bad .


----------



## Dr. Prepper (Dec 20, 2012)

#1 Here's a view from directly overhead. As you can see, there's not much to it.








#2 Here's a quickie sketch I made to show the insides.

To start the fire drop burning paper down into the top and make sure it goes all the way down to the bottom of the elbow. Slide twigs into the elbow on top of the divider baffle and allow them to ignite from the paper. Once the twigs start to burn you will hear the "rocket" sound as the flames rush up to the top of the stovepipe.


----------



## Gallo Pazzesco (Dec 22, 2012)

Dr. Prepper ... you are DA MAN!

Muchos gratziass Amigo!


----------



## Blinddog (Dec 16, 2012)

I built a wood gas stove which works on the same principle that a rocket stove works on. I used one, 1 gal empty paint can and one, 1 qt empty paint can. ( get them at Lowes) cut a series of holes in both cans and put the qt can in the gal can ( you have to look this up on line to fully understand anything that I am describing) by way of cutting a hole in the lid of the gal can. The stove will produce a hot blue flame at the surface of the can with only coals firing it. It uses almost no wood to function as a stove for cooking or keeping warm. You gotta see this, it is great and can be built small or large depending what your needs are.


----------



## joec (Nov 12, 2012)

I picked up a Biolite Camp stove and really like it. Come in handy for camping/hunting trips too.

BioLite CampStove


----------



## D"artagnan (Nov 18, 2012)

built mine with 33/35 gallon drums


----------

