Making a Gas Bottle Stove

Article by Dave D

So what materials do you need to make your stove?

• 1An empty gas bottle, a 19Kg bottle is about the right size. (Most stoves I have seen are the 13Kg propane/15Kg butane and sometimes the smaller ones too... Ed)
• 150mm of 50mm steel pipe.
• 150mm of 100mm steel pipe.
• Two steel hinges.

That will do for starters, you can add bits to the list depending on your design. 

What tools and equipment to you need to build your stove?

• Electric drill.
• Electric stick welder (you can use Mig or gas if thats what you have)
• Electric Jigsaw ( unless you have a friend with a Plasma cutter or an air saw)
• Selection of drill bits and hole-saws

What you need to do.

FIRSTLY, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE CORRECT SAFETY KIT! 

You are going to need, Goggles, Welding mask, gloves and appropriate clothing.

Avoid wearing nylon when welding as it melts if you get sparks on it!

Also make sure you have a FIRST AID KIT to hand, just in case you cut yourself, burn yourself or injure yourself in any other way you can think of!

Dismantling gas bottle safety protocol:

1. Work outdoors, away from bystanders and potential sources of ignition (smoking, welding, angle grinding, electric switches, even static electricity). Be aware that LPG is heavier than air, make sure there is no dips or drains where it can accumulate. Have a fire extinguisher and a bucket with a wet rag ready.
2. You must release all of the gas first! Try to empty the bottle with some sort of appliance to minimise the amount of gas you release into the environment, as it is wasteful and dangerous. Nominal pressure on a standard propane bottle is 7bar/100psi, there is quite a bit of force behind it.           
   
   Let the gas escape with the bottle upright, then leave the bottle standing upside down with the valve open for a while, gently tip it at times. You can get a sense for how much gas is left in a bottle by tipping it and listening or even weighing it (some bottles have a little sheet metal collar around the neck which shows the weight of the empty bottle in pounds and ounces). If you're in doubt, leave it alone. You also come across older or butane bottles which have no valve to open manually, the only way to get the gas out is to attach the right regulator.
   
   Escaping gas will freeze everything it comes in contact with, this includes the valve (so you might not be able to shut it again) and your hands if they get in the way. First aid for frostburn is ten minutes of running water, then medical attention if pain persists.
3. Always remove the valve. Take the valve out by unscrewing it (regular thread here, they come out anti-clockwise) with an adjustable spanner, large pliers or a plumbing wrench while holding the bottle in position with a long lever through the handle.
   
   It works best if you lay the bottle sideways on an even floor. It takes half a minute to align all the levers right to get enough torque on, but in the end the valves always come out. Be aware that the valve may be blocked or damaged.
   
   Always be prepared for a lot of gas to come out as soon as you unscrew the valve, keep your hands away, wear gloves, wrap the valve in a wet rag before fully taking it out.
4. Remove remaining gas. Blow the remaining gas out with compressed air while the bottle stands upside down. The absolutely foolproof way is to fill the bottle with water, although this is not always practical. There will always be a foul smell around, I've had cut bottles standing around for months and they still smell.

.

1. Mark the holes on the bottle for the FLUE PIPE, MAIN DOOR and AIR-SUPPLY PIPE. Flue at the TOP REAR, Air-supply at the BOTTOM 90 deg round from the flue, make sure you do these on the straight sides of the bottle away from the top and bottom curves. The main door should be on the opposite side to the flue.

2. Drill out your Flue pipe and Air-supply pipe holes with the appropriate hole saws.

3. Drill a hole in each corner of your Main door position, this is so you can get the jigsaw blade in.

4. Using the Jigsaw cut out the main door, ensuring you have your safety goggles on and gloves if necessary.

Thats the first stage complete.

So now you need to put all the components together, for this you will need your welding kit, Don't forget to have your safety gear to hand.

You will need gloves, welding vizor and your first aid kit.

First thing to get on to your stove is the front door, so tack the hinges to the door first, and then on to the side of the gas bottle. Make sure you only tack them to start with as you may need to re-position them so that the door shuts properly.

You may also want to check that the door opens wide as well so that it is easier to get the fuel in when the time arrives.

So, now you have your door on you may wish to give it a smoke test, to do this I cleaned the lint filter in the tumble drier, put it in the chamber and set it alight. Shut the door and see if the smoke goes out of the flue hole and not the air inlet or the door.

Next to go on are the flue spigot and air intake pipe.

So the main components are all together on the stove, so nows a good time to move it to somewhere fire-proof to give it a trial. So fit your flue pipe and secure it in position. Get some kindling and firewood together and start your fire in the bottom of the stove.

Get a fire going and shut the door, hopefully a good fire will result, with air being drawn in from the bottom air intake the smoke should easily flow from the flue.

Burning the paint off

Be aware that some of the newer gas bottles are coated in an extremely durable paint which is very hard to burn off. It can be a good idea to use an angle grinder with a flap sand paper disk to grind off as much paint as possible (if you do that at an early stage, you can reach nearly all of the bottle and it only takes 20-30 minutes), avoid breathing in the dust and bin it.

It is always good to do at least one test burn, get the burner as hot as you possibly can (attach a decent length of stack pipe and feed it with small bits of dry palette) for a while. Keep a good fire going and it will start to burn off the external paint from the old gas bottle.

Eventually after after at least 20 minutes most of the paint will have burnt off, a wire brush will help to shift it! It is sometimes surprising how long it takes to get all the paint off, some bottles even sweat out another layer of paint after the grinding. Be aware that the fumes are quite toxic and take your time to do it well before putting the burner in a living environment.
If available heat the whole burner thoroughly with an oxy-acetylene torch.

So, you now have a stove that is near enough bare metal, a good coat of stove black will make it look better. Before you do that there are a number of extras that can be added such as handles and a hot plate for a kettle!