Before You Begin

• Several factors make a good camp stove: portability, the ability to hold a fire and enough space inside that it can burn through the night without being stoked.
  
  You can build this stove using a steel barrel with a removable top, a few pieces of hardware and some heavy-duty wire. It shouldn't cost more than $30 to build!
  
  Here are the materials that you need:
  
  * 10-24 machine screws---27
  * Nuts---27
  * Lock washers---27
  * Flat washers---72
  * 1½-inch hinges---1 pair (be sure you get all-metal hinges)
  * 1 clamp tight window sash lock
  * 5/8-inch flat stove gasket---at least 70 inches
  * Stove gasket cement---1 tube
  * Stove paint or polish---1 or 2 cans
  
  As for tools, you will need a jigsaw, a power drill, a screwdriver, a file, a ball-peen hammer and a pair of pliers.
  
  

The Process

• Remove the lid from the barrel. Cut the top 1/3 of the barrel off just above the barrel's second band.
  
  Put the top side aside and work with the bottom 2/3 of the barrel. You will next cut the holes for the stove's door and draft. It's a good idea to draw lines before you do this. The main door for the stove will be 12 inches by 9 inches, and the draft door will be 2 inches by 4 inches. File down all the edges after cutting them.
  
  Next you will cut the door, the draft door and the draft bracket from the top 1/3 of the barrel. The door itself will be 10 inches high and 13 inches wide. The draft door should be 2 3/4 inches high by 5 inches wide and the bracket 1 3/4 inches by 2 inches. The draft door and bracket will be connected together by drilling holes in the door and inserting bolts through them, then securing the bracket to the door with washers on the screws. Then this apparatus will be secured to the stove's wall through holes corresponding to the holes on the door with washers on the other side.
  
  Use standard hinges to connect the door and a latch on the opposite side.
  
  Now take the lid of the barrel and cut the 6-inch stove pipe hole. It's best to trace one circle and then draw another centered inside and then cut out the excess systematically using straight cuts to the larger circle.
  
  Before you connect the lid to the stove permanently, try a test burn to make sure the stove works. If it does, connect the lid to your stove using a length of stove gasket, cement and clamps.
  
  Make a base for your stove by bending heavy-duty wire into a doughnut-like shape. You are ready to go!