Here are 24 DIY Wood Stoves that anyone can build. Some of the projects have a higher difficulty rating than the others; but they can all be accomplished with a little change to the design, bartering, or by paying someone for help. DIY doesn’t always mean one-hundred percent do it yourself.
When we built our smokehouse almost six years ago we were debating about what we wanted to use as a smoke source. Some friends and I were talking about it over a beer; when suddenly one of them said, you can use a propane stove!
My immediate reaction is best described on the left. Using a fossil fuel for our smoker does not fit into our long-term goal of energy independence. When he said propane stove, I thought he meant propane fired. He quickly rectified my misunderstanding and told me about an ice shack he had seen before. The owner had converted an old propane tank into a wood stove for his shack and had even added a cooking surface to it. The thought intrigued me; it was something I could get dual usage out of. So we spent the next several hours sketching different ideas of what it should look like and this was our final result several weeks later.
The picture on the left is after I did a six-hour burn to remove all the old paint off the tank before I re-painted it with hi-temp rustoleum. I call it my little brown bomber. For the chimney stack we used a piece of three-inch muffler pipe which then ties into stove-pipe that goes into our smoking chamber. But enough about our project; let’s move onto the 24 other designs.
Some of them are nothing more than little water heaters; while others can heat whole houses efficiently using rocket stove design principles.
24Mini Camping Stove
Lazyman’s Mini Camping Brazier by
The Mini Camping Brazier burns for about 15-20 minutes before ending up with just a little ash with one load. Considering its size, it threw out a lot of heat and only a little smoke when it got going. Because the flames work down it would be easy to keep stoking it.
23Rocket Stove
Rocket Stove by
I love rocket stoves… For those that don’t know it’s a great way to cook with wood. The basic principle is to burn wood hot and fast, which is more efficient. So you insulate the fire and direct the heat to where it’s needed… The pan! Work gloves are important, this involves lots of sniping of sheet metal.
22Hack A Weber
I’ve made a number of these stoves over the years, hacked out of tin cans and other bits of scrap. When I saw the Weber Rapidfire in my local hardware store, it’s reasonably priced (£20 in B&Q) and looked like it was ready made for hacking into a really nice wood stove.
21Wood Burning Stove
Don’t use anything aluminum. it will catch fire when temperature gets high enough for spontaneous combustion, melting or really aggressive burning with hot sparks flying about. Put some cardboard or paper inside and stack little sticks on top to fire it up.
20Hot Water Tank Wood Stove
Hot Water Heater Into a Wood Stove by
About 6 years ago, with the cost of heating my house rising, I began looking at designs for wood stoves. In The Mother Earth News (Issue # 49- January/February 1978) I found a promising article about using discarded hot water heaters. I used that article as a guide.
19Miniature Camp Stove
While looking at camp stoves I thought that I needed a tiny one. This is a wood burning (tea Light Alternative) miniature camp stove. The stove is made from scrap copper tubing and about 3 hours of my time. I used 2 5/8 copper tube and basic copper plumbing tube.
18Gas Bottle Wood Burner
Gas bottle wood burners are very easy to make, efficient, and are perfect for late night parties. If you turn them right up, the middle can start to glow red, you can put a kettle on the top, or cut the top off and add a hot plate. These are really easy to make.
17Frontier stove from a gas bottle
Make a Frontier stove from a gas bottle by
I recently saw a frontier stove online and thought how awesome it’d be for camping. I also thought the cost was silly and that I could make one just as good for next to nothing. I can’t stress how important it is to do this stage safely. The gas bottle must be devoid of gas.
16Space Shuttle Rocket Stove
Much easier than a round one and practical, there isn’t any insulation material. İf you don’t use outer steel body it cools very fast. İt took me one day to build. If you want to build by bending the outer steel body you can make without much welding.
15Rocket Stove Mass Heater
Via Google Translate: The fuel is exposed to intense heat. Heat increases in the isolated internal chimney that complete combustion. When the rocket reaches its normal operating heat , there is no smoke coming out of the chimney. I took advantage of the expertise of others.
14CNG Tube Salamander
About two months ago I found dumped in a landfill (the kind with a big sign “NO LITTERING”) a CNG cylinder, surely belonging to one of several stolen cars that end up there in flames. With some difficulty I got up it, loaded in the trunk of the car and brought at home.
13Wood Burning Stove from sheet steel
Woodburning Stove from sheet steel by
I am not a professional metalworker but a guy with some tools and a workshop. The final outcome was very successful… The flat top gets hot enough to cook on and/or boil a kettle and the output it approximately 4-5kw when it’s fully up to temperature.
12Rocket Mass Heater
How to build a Rocket Mass Heater by
If you use wood to heat your house, you should definitely consider making a RMH. It will make a huge difference to your home and your woodpile. This design can be modified to suit your space and needs. Or you can use the principles we outline to create your own.
11Barrel Furnace
I have a few stainless steel drums lying around the property. I decided I would take the prettiest one and make a furnace out of it. This is the near completed first step of the drum furnace assembly. I’m going to potentially add an additional radiator drum.
10Gas bottle log burner
My trade is in the welding and fabrication industry therefore I am lucky to have the tools to hand. But to be honest the main tool for this job was a grinder. I must add that I’m rather fussy and a perfectionist and the hours involved might give it away.
9Pot Belly Stove
Pot Belly Stove / Outdoor Wood Heater by
Here is my version of a typical “outdoor wood heater” built over the holiday break ready for winter in Australia. This was a great little project where i could spent 4 days welding things together! My build makes use of 3 old truck brake drums, scrap steel and water pipe offcuts.
8Pot Belly Stove From A Propane Tank
Pot Belly Stove. made from a gas tank by
My Goal: To build a wood burning stove to heat my shed so i can still tinker in the cold winter months without freezing to death. I had priced professionally built wood stoves and found very few under £400 most where about £600, so I decided to build my own stove.
7Stove Made From Scrap
My plan was to make a better furnace for melting aluminum but was debating this with my wife, she made a good point of how many times I would use the furnace Versus how many times we will sit out on a cold afternoon in the garden with a warm wooden stove.
6Minion Log Burner
Find an empty gas bottle, if it’s not full empty you can use a nail to expel the remanding gas. Once it’s empty I use a hack saw to cut off the tap on top. Next fill it will water to dispel any remaining gas. Using a magic marker, to mark out your design.
5Vader Gas Bottle Stove
Vader Gas Bottle Log Burner by
I like to use masking tape to hold my bits on place. I marked out where the hinge would go, drilled and tapped with a 4mm tap and attached the hinge using 4x10mm machine screws. I find it easier drilling and tapping and attaching the hinge while the bottle is still intact.
4Gas Bottle Burner
To raise the burner off the ground I welded on three legs, no wobble with 3 legs. Spray painted using stove and bbq paint. Well the first fire is a roaring success, I’m really impressed with how much heat it gives off…if I was to make it again I would make the door smaller.
3Piglet Shaped Burner
Welcome to the creation of my version of the gas bottle wood burner. I hope you all enjoy it and that I have given some of you good idea’s to make an original version yourself. In this instructable I won’t give a full description on how to weld properly.
2Babe BBQ
Babe-BQ by
I was looking at a few a gas bottle stoves which inspired this, basically it’s a log burner with the lid closed, the butterfly valve in the snout is to control the heat, with the lid open it’s a BBQ fueled by charcoal, it’s not quite finished yet but its only a grill and a ash tray required to finish it.
1Bobba Fett Wood Burner
Boba Fett Wood Burning Stove by
The major component for the helmet was an old propane tank. The rest of the pieces for the face plate, base, visor, and antenna were random metal scraps. The paint was high temp grill paint from the hardware store ( silver and black), and engine paint ( red and green).
One word of warning, a lot of the projects use old propane tanks as a base material for their design. They are cheap, plentiful at scrap yards and are heavy-duty enough to withstand the high temperatures generated by a wood fire. Do your due diligence and make sure you follow all recommended safety rules to cut a compressed gas tank. This was one part of our build that I did not feel comfortable with; I paid someone to cut the tank for me. I even went so far as to buy a brand new empty propane tank for thirty-five dollars; instead of taking the risk of using a scrapped tank. Be safe people.
