Making an Alcohol Stove

          Looking for a fun, lightweight and easy to store way to cook something next time your camping? Then the Alcohol Stove (or Penny Stove) is perfect for you. It uses the vapors given of by alcohol to ignite and burn quietly, cleanly, and efficiently. Time Spent: 10 minutes

Step 1: Find some supplies

• Two clean(ish) aluminum pop cans
• Metal shears or scissors
• A big thick book     
• Square of aluminum foil
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Block of stone (if not using concrete)
• Mill Bastard File
• Lighter
• Alcohol (Denatured, isopropyl, ethyl, whichever)
• Super glue (liquid, not gel)
• A sharpie, or magic marker
• A drill and two metal bits, .05", and .075"
• A Penny (or any other coin, I used a nickel) 

 Step 2: Rinse Your Cans Out

     Nothing fancy here, just enough to get any sugar and sticky stuff off the can. Also, make sure the cans are nice and dry for the next step.
 

Step 3: Mark Your Cuts

     Using the Big Thick Book, place the marker about 1 1/2" up face out. Then with a gentle circular motion, turn the can until the entire outside has a line across it.

For the Second can, the line is about 1/2 way down from the first, seen above.

     For the second can, move the marker 3/4" down and repeat marking it.

Step 4: Cut Halfway Down to the Line



This is where having a pair of metal shears is awesome. You can blast right through the lip of the can and get to work. (If you have scissors, you will need to poke a hole in the side and then cut down.)

Make sure to cut down only about halfway to your line. Trying to cut the line now is hard and messes up the lip you'll be creating for the next step.

Your cans should look like the bottom pictures when done with this part.

You can still see the line at this point

Step 5: Finish Cutting the Lines

Start by cutting a V shape down to the line. Don't go over the line!
Then finish cutting around the line.

You should have a tall piece and a short piece now.


 




  Step 6: Pinching in the Short Side

Place the pliers about half-way down the side of the small pop can. Then put your fingers on either side and gently pull down.




                               Do this all around the side of the pop can.






It should look like this when it's done.













Step 7: Putting the Two Halves Together

This can be the hardest step in making your Alcohol Stove. If you try to force it too fast, it will either slip in on one side or will rip the taller can apart.

The real secret here is patience. Holding the tall can in one hand and the short in the other, gently turn the two at an angle until the short side slips into the tall side.  Things to watch out for are snags or bends on the short can that stick out too much as both of these can split the tall can. Once you have the cans together (like the image to the left) start squeezing the two together. Don't rush otherwise one side of the can will dip down too far. Remember, you want the bottom of the short can to be just covered.

Oops, pushed to hard on the side! Push with even force on both sides.

Oops, must have had a snag! Use the mill bastard file to even out the lip of the short can. 

NOTE:Still having trouble with this step? Move on to Step 10, then come back! Drilling the fill hole can make it easier to put the two cans parts together. 

 
  Step 8: Glue the Cans

At this stage your cans should look like this. Now you will take your super glue and seal the edge. This is important because any gaps that are large enough will ignite once you put your fuel in. Unless you want surprise flames later, gluing is your best option.
   


 Step 9: You Know The Drill

                Okay, now that your glue is dry, you can start to drill your holes.

First use the sharpie to mark where you want the holes to go. One big one in the middle of the can, and the other smaller ones equally spread out over the lip.

Using the larger bit (.05"), drill the middle hole. This will be the hole through which you fill your stove.

Use the smaller bit (.075") for the lip holes. You can also use a push pin for this step.

Step 10: Light 'Er Up!

Make sure you have the aluminum under the stove and you have water on hand in case of a fire emergency. Now fill the stove with alcohol through the large hole you made earlier. Fill the aluminum dish you have under the stove with a few squirts of alcohol as well. When your ready, put the penny or other coin on the fill hole and light the base near the aluminum foil. As the alcohol heats up inside the can and begins to evaporate, it will catch fire and your stove will "Turn on".

And that's it! If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. 

Successful Droplets with Adobe Photoshop CS5

Creating Droplets Is Easy...Right?

Wrong! You would think so by the way many web authors talk about it, but let's be honest: how many of us use this feature on Photoshop consistently? This guide will help you understand the process, the results, and the major hang-ups that come with creating a batch Droplet in Adobe Photoshop. 

Step 1: All Hale the Droplet

So what is a Droplet exactly? A Droplet is a mini-program, written by Photoshop that allows you to drag-and-drop photo files so you can quickly and effectively edit pictures. Why does this matter? Think back to that last family vacation where you took a veritable...ton of photos. Remember having to sit down and go through each and every photo and edit it to look really nice? Using a Droplet, you can select all of your photos from their original folder, drag them over to where you have your Droplet app and release. The Droplet takes a pre-loaded set of instructions in Photoshop and automatically does it to your photos. The Droplet then deposits your photos in whatever folder you want, and VOILA! You have all of your photos looking beautiful in time for Aunt Myrtle to come over and take a look. Still confused? Keep reading...

Step 2: Prep Work

This is a quick step, but it makes the difference. You need to make two folders one entitled "Droplets" where you will keep the Droplets you create (mine is on my Desktop for ease of use, but you can put yours anywhere) and another folder where your finished files will go.

Step 3: Make an Action

Photoshop is a great piece of software for any photographer from newbie to pro, you just have to know how to use all the cool gagdets and wing-dingers. In order to set up your Droplet you first need to make an Action that it can use. Actions are a super handy way to save time for anything you might find yourself doing over and over and over and over and over and...you get the point.

Open up Photoshop.

Open any picture.

Go to Window>Actions, or just hit Alt+F9 on your keyboard

This brings up the Actions panel on the right of your screen.

Under the Actions window, find Record and push it

Change your Picture Settings as you would like

Go to File> Save As... or press Ctrl+Shift+S on the Keyboard

         This is important to add into your Actions, if you don't you'll have some issues later on.

Under the Actions window, press Stop

Step 4: Set up your Droplet

Now that you have an Action to use, you can make your Droplet

Go to File>Automate>Create Droplet...

Choose the 1st folder you made earlier in
Step 2

Choose a name for the Droplet that helps you remember what it does (mine is for re-sizing)

Choose the Action you want the Droplet to do from the drop-down menu

Choose "Folder" for destination

Choose the 2nd folder you made in Step 2 

Click the "Override Save as..." button

Click OK

Exit Photoshop

Step 5: Test It!

Now you can choose a photo you want to test this with.

Click and drag it over to the .exe you made in your 1st folder from Step 2

Wait for Photoshop to open and finish the command

Check in the 2nd Folder you made in Step 2 to to ensure the picture is what you want

Celebrate Victory

Okay that's it.  Hopefully at this point you have a fully-functioning, time-saving Droplet.