Rocket Science

My grand daughter had a birthday recently. Of course, there were balloons everywhere. I noticed the empty helium tank and thought it was  a waste to toss it out. I know that it, probably, gets recycled, but I wondered if it could be repurposed. I got on line and saw these rocket stoves. They can be made from old cans, propane tanks and so forth. So, I got to work. I cut  a hole in the top, where the valve was and another on the side. I took a piece of exhaust tubing from the scrap pile and cut it in half at a 45 degree angle I welded the two pieces back together so theye mad a 90 degree turn. I stuck it into the tank so one end came through the hole on the side and the other end poked up through the hole on top. I welded the tube to the tank at the side opening. Before welding the top closed, the tank was filled with vermiculite. This insulates the stove and keeps as much of the heat as possible in the firebox and the chimney. I made up a little, square grille to hole the pot or pan and three legs to support it. The horizontal tube is the fire box. A small sheet metal divider was cut and inserted in the tube. The wood sits on this divider. As it burns, air is drawn in through the bottom of the tube, under the divider and the heat pulls the flame up through the chimney. I fired it up and was able to fry an egg with it. I find that lighter wood, like pine, seems to work better that slower burning hardwood. It's nothing that you can just light and walk away from. Fuel needs to be added often, but it works pretty well. Just another, quicky, project that I threw together because I was bored and broke. As soon as I scrape up a few bucks, I'll finish the wood lathe