Oh, fire. I love you so. Here’s a little fire story: Deborah asked me if I knew anything about Solo Stoves. She was curious about maybe getting one for her backyard to burn sticks. I looked at photos of them, and they seemed like a washing machine tub that holds fire. I was not excited that the fire would be down in a bin, and you couldn’t see the actual fire. Lloyd told me that he saw one at a fellow teacher’s house and it was beautiful. “Beautiful how? You can’t see the fire,” I asked. “It’s just beautiful,” he answered. Ugh. Communication. Bad.
So I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, and I can see the appeal. The Solo Stove is a wood gasifier, meaning that it has a double-wall construction with air holes that burn the gases (smoke & stuff) that come off a regular fire. It makes it look cool and is pretty smokeless. Deborah would love that!
The cost? Enormous. The smallest fire pit they sell is over $200, and you probably need to buy the accessory package. Cheap Lauren needed to see for herself what all the fuss was about. I grabbed some cans (a giant can from work and a big can from home) and a can opener and got to work.
Well, I’ll be. Those flames shooting out are the re-burned gasses. Here’s a screenshot where you can see the ‘holes’ at the top.
Ok, so now I just needed to make one on a larger scale. I had to go to Menard’s for school stuff, and poked around. My thought was to buy a metal bucket and a new, empty paint can, but it just so happens that they sell buckets in different sizes, and the big one had a lid!
Cut. Cut. Cut. Drill. Drill. Drill. Bash together with a mallet and…. viola’!
I have a little video of my own:
We delivered it to Deborah’s house and I had her sign a waiver that relieves me of any responsibility of damage. She kindly agreed. 🙂
Oh, fire. Why you gotta wreck stuff?
Brad says
It is so pretty. I want to burn something now…
Kristi says
Lauren, you have done it again! Just as good as the original -- much cheaper than the original.
Deborah says
It is beautiful! And now when I see sticks in the yard I will rejoice instead of curse.
Mark says
So long as you don’t try to sell these, you won’t run afoul of any patents. Your reverse engineering skills are amazing, sis.