Fabricating the jerrycan into a “jerrystove”

Josh Welton took on a project to turn a jerrycan into a rocket stove, something he's calling a "jerrystove."

Now that we’ve re-emerged from the plethora of dark and twisted tunnels that make up the history of the "jerrycan" (Part I and Part II), we can finally move on to what started that tangent: the "jerrystove."

Throwing stuff away isn't my style. I don't think "hoarder" is the proper description, but I do collect a lot of junk. Some of the stuff just looks cool sitting in the loft: a traffic light, a couple of whiskey barrels, an old school brass fire extinguisher. Other unique pieces are most definitely destined to become part of a sculpture: an old snow shovel scoop, a test lid from a Miller welder, a door from a ’68 Dodge Coronet. Then there are a couple of things that sit in the middle; they kind of look neat just hanging out. But if the right idea hops into my brain, perhaps they might be of use in a project.

This jerrycan has sat in the middle for a long time, ever since Darla's great-uncle Paul gifted it to me seven or eight years ago. This one had "WATER" painted in big letters on both sides and "19.95" on the back, which I assume meant it did some time waiting for a new owner at a garage sale. In my shop it just blended into the background with that neat military look and earned patina.

It's no secret that I enjoy playing with fire. So, when I started seeing rocket stoves pop up in my social media feeds, they caught my attention.

What is a rocket stove?

Here's how it's commonly defined:

So how do you differentiate a rocket stove from a typical stove or furnace?

The definition goes on to explain:

Why the "rocket" terminology?

Here's how permacultureprinciples.com describes it:

Josh Welton had an old military jerrycan laying around his shop and decided to fabricate it into a rocket stove.

At some point I thought it would be cool to make one. We don't have room to keep a grill at our place, but we would have room for a small rocket stove. It would have to be small enough to easily tuck away and light enough to carry.

And, of course, I can't ever just go with the norm; I needed to make mine unique. Sitting out in my shop, looking at that old jerrycan, everything clicked. I could use the can as the base from which to build the stove. There would be an inner chamber made mostly of stainless. Also, the space between the chamber and the walls of the canister would provide insulation. I would fabricate a grill to set over the top of the chimney for when we cooked. The spout would open to accept wood, a tray would pull out to remove ashes, and a tube would run from the outer wall into the burn chamber for airflow.

There are sites and forums dedicated to the art of building a rocket stove. I did a little light reading, but mostly decided I’d build one and tweak it as I found its weaknesses.

So, it began. No blueprints or even a sketch, just the fuzzy image in my mind's eye of what I wanted it to be.

Step 1: Break out the Metabos.

To be continued …

Check back next week for Part II of the "jerrystove" project.

Josh Welton didn't use any sketches or blueprints to fabricate a jerrycan into a rocket stove. He just winged it.