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DIY Rocket Stove | Rocket Mass Heater Plans & Instructions

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Chilly? Why not make your own rocket heater?

A rocket stove mass heater or rocket heater, is a space heating system developed from the rocket stove, a type of efficient wood-burning stove, and the masonry heater. If you don't have central heating and you don't feel like shelling out your hard-earned dollars for ineffective store-bought space heaters, the rocket heater is a great DIY alternative. It can also be used to cook!

 

Materials Needed To Make a Rocket Heater

Supplies

2 tall cans about, 6 inches across and 10 inches tall. (We used paint cans.)

1 piece of aluminum flashing, about 3 feet long.

 

Tools

Utility knife/box cutter/knife pliers

Tin snips

Gloves

Permanent marker

Measuring tape

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Supplies needed for DIY Rocket Stove / Rocket Mass Heater Plans

Step One

Create Feed Tube

Measure and then cut a piece of flashing that's 8 inches long. Using the edge of a table or a square edge, bend the flashing into a square or whatever shape you want. This is the feed tube for your heater.

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Measure and mark 8 inches of flashing.
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Using your tin snips, cut the 8-inch piece of aluminum flashing.
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Trim the flashing so that it is approximately 10 inches long. You can measure if you prefer.
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Using a table or square edge as a guide, bend the flashing along the edge, so that it will fold.
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Bend the flashing along the fold line you made with your square edge.
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The flashing is now bent to form your feed hole and should look like this.

Step Two

Cut Hole for Feed Tube

With a pen, trace the edge of your feed tube on the side of the can you will be using as the base. Use your knife to cut the hole in the side of the can by pressing the knife firmly down and through the metal.  Once your hole is cut, fit your feed tube into the hole about  1 1/2-inches deep and adjust fit as needed.

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Trace the shape of the feed tube on the can and mark it with permanent marker.
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Use your knife to cut the shape of the feed tube out of the can.
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Use your tin snips to easily remove the piece you cut through.
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This may take a little work, especially if the can is thick. Use pliers, as the metal is sharp.
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Insert the feed tube into the hole you cut.
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You should allow a couple of inches of the feed tube to go into the can.

 

Step Three

Create Stand Tube

Stack your two large cans and measure the distance from the base to the top. You need to allow 1 inch for flow, so subtract one from the measurement of the total height. Measure and cut a piece of flashing from that measurement and roll into a tube. This is your stand tube.

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Measure the two cans together to determine how tall your stand tube needs to be.
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Cut a piece of flashing that is the length you measured.
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Roll the flashing and make sure it fits into the can.

 

Step Four

Cut Hole for Stand Tube

Place your stand tube on the base of your top can. Then, trace and cut a hole in the base of that can the size of your stand tube.

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Trace the stand tube, the cut a hole in the lid that size.
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You will end up with a hole in the can that looks like this.

 

Step Five

Cut Stand Tube to Fit Feed Tube

Remove feed tube from first can and trace and cut its opening in the side of your stand tube. Replace the feed tube into the base can and fit the stand tube  over it. The fit does not need to be exact but should be close. Some gaps are ok.

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After tracing feed tube, cut shape out of stand tube.
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Put the stand tube back, running it through can.

 

Step Six

Cut Hole in Bottom Can

Trace stand tube onto lid of bottom can. Cut and remove that piece as you did the other hole.

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Trace the stand tube and cut another hole in the can so it will fit.
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Remove that piece so it looks like this, then put the lid back.

Step Seven

Assemble

Put the heater together by stacking your two cans, placing the stand tube over the feed tube.

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With the stand tube in the top can, place it into the bottom can like this, fitting the feed tube hole over the feed tube.
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Adjust it until the two can fit together securely.

 

Step Eight

Cut Vent Holes

The top of the top can needs to have vent holes cut in it. Use your knife and cut a series of holes around the top edge.

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Mark holes on the top of the top can for vents.
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With your knife, cut out the vent holes you marked.

 

Step Nine

Stay Warm

Your heater is ready to use. Burn stove in a well ventilated area. Do not burn your rocket heater indoors. Children should use only with adult supervision.

SAFETY NOTES:

Do not use anything galvanized in this process. Galvanized metal creates toxic fumes when heated. Wear gloves when cutting metal. The edges can be very sharp.

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Your finished rocket can heater should look like this.

Want to see this process in action? Check out the DIY Rocket Heater tutorial online.

 

We are working on another video that shows you how easy it is to use your new rocket heater / stove and also a printable .pdf

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Comments

  1. Great idea to use some items that might be laying around, that quite possibly might save your bacon. Well done.

  2. Wouldn’t it be easier to use a charcoal starter chimney? put a small grill grate over the top and you have a cooker.

    • A charcoal starter chimney would work as a cooker, but you’d be using a lot of fuel. A rocket stove is designed to use very little fuel, it is burning both wood and wood gas. The rocket stove I built using 3″ square tubing and a small refrigerant tank was able to get up to 700 degrees at the cooking surface in just a few minutes using less than 12 small sticks

    • Looks very cool. Nice project to teach the kids. What I don’t understand is how to use it. I am assuming you would put sticks through the top part of feed tube. Already lit???

      • Thanks for the feedback! We are working to get a video showing how one works when lit and will post as soon as we have it. You put your fuel in the feed tube. You can use paper/cardboard, sticks, wood, charcoal or other burnable items for fuel.

  3. In Girl Scouts we learned how to make a can cooker using only one can. Still very efficient, easy to pack due to small size and easy to put a fry pan or dutch oven on and make your meal.. with fire closer to pan we didn’t need much fuel, to get a quick meal.. your 2 cans seem to take up a lot of space for shtf use..

  4. Thank you so much for sharing this. Many people were without hydro in my area for several days. The poorest people are the ones who suffer the most. They are not all hoboes but would have appreciated an experienced hobo to share their knowledge with them in emergencies. Your emergency info will be someone’s life saver.

    • We are working on getting a video. Thanks for asking. You requests really do help is prioritize what we do next. The best fuels are cardboard, small sticks, pretty much anything small and nontoxic you can fit in the feed tube.

  5. Sorry to pop your bubble, but that aluminum flashing will not withstand the heat. You could use it to create the outer container that doesn’t get so hot, but not the inner wall. I just disintegrates in high heat. Steel is required for the inner chamber and feed tube.

  6. You could use quart size paint cans for the inner wall, and normally rocket stoves have insulation between the two layers, like sand, perlite, or just attic fiberglass insulation.

  7. If you want to make it neat and snug, use a power drill with a large diameter hole saw to make the hole for the center tube. use a large drill bit for the air holes at the top and where needed. Then take a rat-tail file and file down the edges so they aren’t sharp or at least lessen the likelihood of being cut by jagged metal that’s been filed. I would use fireplace sealant around the inserted tubes thought its not really needed but would help secure the parts together, and i have it on hand as i have a wood burning stove in the house and have to replace the seal around the door now and then.

  8. making the vent holes lower would make this nifty rocket heater a lot more efficient because the lower temp air can than only escape and not the hottest air. These vent hole should (I think) be lower than the top of the inner “chimny”.

    A “the lux” version would allow you to open vent holes on different heights……. 😉

  9. Dear team, I was searching alcohol fuel stoves from aluminum drink cans, and saw your ad for the rocket stove. I watched it, and now I am ready to make a bunch of them for my church so that we can be prepared for alternative fuels should the electric grid go down. It can get really cold up here in Colorado even in the summer. Thanks.

  10. To correctly call it a rocket stove, the tube should be insulated. Otherwise, it’s just a regular wood stove with a tall chimney! Put perlite or pot ash in the empty space between the burn tube and the paint can. This will increase the burn temperature, making a more complete burn, and reduce the amount of smoke produced. This will also decrease the amount of wood required to cook.

Trackbacks

  1. […] If you are also amazed at this DIY rocket stove plan, you must follow the instructions given here and see how everything is done in an amazing way. A mass heater or rocket heater is a space heating system developed from the rocket stove. You will need tall cans, aluminum flashing, tin snips, gloves, permanent marker, and measuring tape. Tutorial […]

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