I've had lots of inquiries about my alcohol stoves asking if I would be interested in selling them. I hadn't thought that much about making them to sell and to be honest I really didn't want the hassle of dealing with everything that goes along with selling - shipping, payments, e-mails, and definitely don't want to compete or steal sales from the original developers.
However, it seems that there is continued interest from the ultralight backpacking crowd to purchase my stoves - remember I'm not the original inventor or manufacturer of any of these but I do take care in the work I do and pride myself on high quality. I'm being quite honest at the fact that I have made these stoves based on the instructions and designs made available online - I'll even link to the original manufacturers site's below.
So I'll leave it up to you all to decide if you want me to make my stoves available to purchase online. If I get enough responses via e-mail (see my profile) or comments to this post I'll set up a Paypal e-commerce site and some pages specifically for purchasing my stoves and go from there.
As you can see in the photo below, I have been cranking out stoves for a while mostly to perfect the process but largely because they're fun to make despite being able to only use one at a time :)
I've been playing with three different stove models, all of which function perfectly but weight and style comes down to personal taste and the individual.
- Classic soda can stove but with no tape or glued seems - very light and quick to prime
- A two-piece aluminum beer bottle stove based on the classic Whitebox Stove design, but without rivets and with no need to create a rolled top edge - very strong and super easy to use
- My version of the Minibull BIOS stove. Made from aluminum beer bottles and created from a single piece by inverting the walls. Almost indistructible and extremely reliable and easy to use
Here is a close-up of the press with a Bud-Lite stove blank ready to be pressed with the smaller mould on the top. It takes only seconds to make one of these once the blank has been cut. Note that I place a small square piece of thick metal plate on top of the stove before I actually press it into shape, but it's been removed in this photo - it's actually hiding on the left side of the press :)
Follow @bfgreen
9 comments:
I think it would be stealing. This is Tinny's design and he sells them. We all complain when China rips off products and floods the market with them driving down their value. What's the difference here?
Well I don't actually sell them, I just make them for my own personal use and experimentation. I give full credit to Tiny and make sure to link back to him as the originator. I'm not trying to hide the fact that he came up with the concept that I am using to make my own version. I'm hoping Tinny would approve of me trying to learn how to make something myself.
If you don't profit from reproducing or otherwise take credit for another's design, then it is not stealing. I was referring the paragraph in your blog:
>So I'll leave it up to you all to decide if you want me to make >my stoves available to purchase online. If I get enough >responses via e-mail (see my profile) or comments to this >post I'll set up a Paypal e-commerce site and some pages >specifically for purchasing my stoves and go from there.
To do this clearly would be.
I'm in the same boat as you. I have the same press. I'm making the same stoves and everybody is encouraging me to market them. To do that though, would be unethical. IMHO.
Eric
What is the total required clearance in the press for the can pieces and plate to fit?
Nevermind. I just made one. Turned out pretty well. I don't have a press so I muscled it out on a vice. I gave it an extra quarter turn and crushed it a bit but it works like a charm.
Great question, I'd have to check for you. Of course it depends on how tall your upper (mold) is that you are using.
I have used the very first end cap dozens of times to make these stoves. You only need to have one of the upper pieces to crank out lots of these stoves. Tip: Smear a small amount of grease or oil inside the upper cup template to ease the rollover action - I've found this makes much smoother rolls.
Using the press is nice and convenient for sure, but a vice will get the job done.
Have you found any tried-and-true method to making sure you don't end up with those wrinkled insides? I know its probably only cosmetic, but hey, I'm shallow. :)
Oh no, you're not shallow - I'm with you on this. The only way to guarantee there will be no wrinkles on the inside it to make a custom CNC die for making these (that's what Tinnie at Minibull Designs did) - that said there are things you can do to improve your chances. I've had a few that have come out "perfect".
1) Use a light oil or machine grease to coat the inside curved edge of the top piece being used to roll the bottom piece over.
2) Apply steady and even pressure from start to finish in one move
3) make sure that you are applying the pressure perfectly flat/perpendicular to the top lip so that the roll happens evenly
If you can do you best with these three items, you'll eventually get some perfect ones. I know they will still all work, but it's nice to get them as close to perfect as possible right?
Post a Comment