Great job. I have the SoloStove Bonfire, and I think you need to make the inside holes at the top larger and add a lot more of them, that should correct the smoking problem.

Absolutely awesome design! What a great starting point for other people to try! I'm going to try this over the next few weeks.

BTW, I want to add, when starting the fire and stacking the wood, make sure all the wood stays below the top jets, the catalyst is only going to work if those heated gases are circulating correctly, Any fuel exhaust above is only going to rise in the form of smoke due to not being reheated by the catalyst system. Good job 👍!

Pssh - lotta negative nellys... Awesome video. Love the no BS way of showing your build. Are there ways to improve it? sure... but hell, this is an awesome starting point. Tweak this, tweak that, and we've got a really good gasifier... Thanks for the heads up.

Nice attempt! I just ordered a Solo Bonfire but totally respect your attempt at making your own.

That's pretty cool. I use the drum from a washing machine. It works great.

It consumes so much wood because it burn so hot! This is awesome! And frankly, part of the reason I have a fire is to enjoy the smell of the smoke! Great job

Just loooove the way you explain thing's .... That was so easy to follow ... THANKYOU X

I think it’s a great design and I’m sure it was fun for you to do. Thank you for sharing.

Great workmanship and video. Without audio commentary, clueless as to why and what your doing along the way. Audio towards the end is helpful. Cut down on smoke by starting fire near top vs the bottom.

That bonfire popped up on my TickTock feed and I was like the hell with this I’m going to KZread and here we are laugh out loud

Great idea. Thanks for sharing this. The only thing I'd do extra would be to sand the sharp edges off. The price is certainly better than $2-500 for Solo fire pits.

I built one in about an hour, out of an old water heater tank (for the inside burn chamber) and a 55 gallon barrel for the outside. I drilled several holes on the bottom to keep the pellets (or cord wood) burning. Then I drilled 1/2" holes about 1" apart all the way around the inside lip of the hot water tank. It does not smoke at all and you can see the flames shooting out of all the secondary holes on the top edge. It really works great!

@szbert

6 жыл бұрын

Good idea!

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

sounds like it works better than mine!

@spanky522

5 жыл бұрын

You need to make a ring a little smaller than the opening on top to direct the flames inward as they come up so the air from the secondary holes burns the smoke. Mine like yours is a little to big around (diameter) and should be only about 18" inside and 20" outside diameter and also a lot deeper so the secondary air has to travel a little farther before coming out of the holes to burn the gases. I'm making one from scratch now that is about 18" inside and 20" outside diameter and taller like I said. I made small ones out of tin cans that work perfect, so now I'm just going bigger.

@carlosm809

5 жыл бұрын

Painter D post it so we can check it out.

@rolandoperez8054

5 жыл бұрын

Did you record your build?

Right idea, WAY too much primary air in at the bottoms. The sparks sailing into he sky are the giveaway. Airflow is the key, You want two fires, the primary fire in the bottom and the secondary fire where the super heated air relights the smoke. You want to admit only enough air at the bottom so that the pit tries to pull air in in over the top lip and thru the top holes you drilled. This pulls the smoke from the edge into the middle so it mixes with the hot air and burns more completely. The flow thru yours is way too fast so there isn’t enough time for the smoke/gas to be superheated and completely broken down. Too much air also cools the fire. I only see yellow flame, you want to see some blue flame down inside that is the hydrogen breaking down. And like other comments this thing will eat wood at a rapid rate... Your first test burn was closer tot he right amount of primary air with the tray blocking most of the hole at the bottom, the tray also heated the primary air(hot air is good). A pit that diameter only needs about a 3.5” hole at the bottom for primary air, or that same surface area, about 8-9 sq/in total spread out in smaller holes... it is also too tall:) the people around it don’t get much heat thru the walls so about a foot high and setting down on the ground is good. Enough wall to heat the secondary air with a superheated primary burn but the heat from the fire still able to be enjoyed by the people around it...

@okielicious

4 жыл бұрын

Well said ....!I have built some out of washing machine and dryer drums they work very well. The idea is to slow the smoke down enough for the superheated air to mix..

@sargonoshana2324

3 жыл бұрын

How do you know all this info? Awesome.

@rronmar

3 жыл бұрын

Sargon Oshana years of building my own versions. My latest design uses a double wall to heat the secondary air like the s-stoves do. I found an old hot water pressure tank to be a great item to easily recycle into one of these. They burn great with no smoke when up to temperature... kzread.info/dash/bejne/mGSlq61mf6nTY9o.html

No wood was harmed in the process of making this stove... ;) Great tut mate, like it.

We need an update for 2021 on how your DIY fire pit is doing.

Beautifully done. I have just two words to describe why I'd still choose the Solo Stove: stainless steel.

@ashtanga2000

4 жыл бұрын

or slicing open an artery on all that sharp steel cuts

@scathelocke

4 жыл бұрын

Two words for why this is the way to go: I’m Cheap

@congestedgoblin2575

2 жыл бұрын

I have one. SMOKELESS

I was highly disappointed... I expected one of the three. 1) Frustration and you kicking the burning fire pit in the fake lake.. 2) HOA raid screaming "NO DIY NO DIY NO DIY" 3) Homeless encampment moving in overnight...

This is awesome because it actually produces heat. I have heard from multiple reviews that the Solo / Breeo don't actually product that much heat around them. So maybe some smoke but actually some heating around the firepit.

i made mine out of a beer keg for the outer shell and a 20lb propane tank for the inner shell . it burns wood pellets damn near smoke free and shoots flames about 1,5 to 2 feet out the top. it burns pretty silent and leave very few ashes

Hey Good job on the first try! As usual someone out here has to bitch that's it's not the same! Listen, work on the draw between the two barrels and seal the areas that sealing to get the correct circulation. It's called R&D for a reason! Keep em coming!

Good work. I believe if you welded all of your joins, it should improve the process your after. Personally I wouldn't want one of these. As you stated, it burns wood really fast. I like the small versions that have the purpose for a stove. For a fire pit, nothing beats the steel drum of the inside of an old washing machine. Throws the heat out awesome and burns slower too. Love your backyard though, right on a river. I'd love that in my backyard! All the best.

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

yeah, no real gasification. my build was actually bigger than the solo bonfire. i think the gap between the 2 barrels was too wide. that kept velocity down on the jets of air. the width of the fire pit was also too wide so even though the air in between the double walls got hot, they couldn't mix with the unburnt smoke to heat up for gasification. i did see a little bit of gasification right at the jets though.

The way this thing burns, you would go through a cord of wood in a night...

Love the measuring techniques. Awesome

Great effort!

With the huge opening in the bottom, you have basically made a chimney that will consume great quantities of wood and put great quantities of heat into the air. Not enjoyable to set around. The art of these is to give it just enough primary air to release a manageable quantity of wood gas that the secondary air can consume cleanly. Too much airflow thru it is a problem...

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

where were you 7 months ago! i could have used your advice. fluid dynamics is pretty tough for an ignoramus like me. based on the research i did ...after gasification is suppose to burn top down. so design failed in multiple areas. also, i think the gap between the 2 barrels was too wide. that kept velocity down on the jets of air. the width of the fire pit was also too wide so even though the air in between the double walls got hot, they couldn't mix with the unburnt smoke to heat up for gasification

Stainless second hand stock pots. If flame is more important than heat smaller burns less wood. My handy ryobi small variable 18 volt blower makes a nice stoker between late loading. Gets it going faster less smoke that way

Try top lighting the fire and drill bigger holes for the gasification and tell us if this helps

Great job just slow the air down at the bottom in close it more let the smoke get hot and slow it down before it comes to the top to mix with the superheated air coming out of the top holes. Great job.

Do more videos, man. Enjoyed this!

I think this would work perfectly if you put a third cylinder with holes in it in the center and left it empty. For the wood gas effect to work the fire has to be able to down draft from the center burning area and get sucked out of the bottom up into the side wall and out the jets. Holes directly into the side of the inner cylinder right near the bottom might also corect the issue...

you should not have a grate in the bottom, a solid plate with the same number of holes in it as around the top. if any thing you should have more air coming in from the top holes than the bottom. you wood will last a lot longer and you will get less smoke. always load the pit with wood then light a small fire on top of it so it burns down through the wood .

I would be willing to bet that the smoke is from the barrel itself not being burnt out first, paint etc.

Why the neg comments on the difficulty??? It’s a DIY. pretty standard home tools that you can get for

Make your top holes bigger, and get a flame concentrator ring for the top as well, and your gasifier effect will be stronger, with less smoke.

My buddy down the road Paul Averit sales barrels I think I’ll go get one now.

Its a nice attempt at replicating for a full days work... and you achieved a couple gas jets... but theres A LOT of smoke there, meaning there is a fairly significant flaw in your design, this means it will burn more wood. You indicated that the side walls are too big, I would probably agree with that, maybe if you fixed that it would function like the real thing. I think people should remember that your getting 304 stainless steel, factory welded, aesthetically pleasing and fully functioning unit for the price you pay it aint bad (made in USA also I do believe).

@burb72

4 жыл бұрын

on amazon you can get 3 stainless stockpots with lids for 33$, same size, so material cost isn't 230$, but paying for design. I am surprised we don't have 40$ Chinese knock offs yet.

@belavet

4 жыл бұрын

Mike Parker I e had cheap stainless pots rust despite being stainless. Not all stainless is made the same especially the junk coming from China. I have no idea how soli stove compares, but I figured it was worth noting. If I had to guess, the $33 stock points you are citing are of the kind that likely wouldn't last long before throwing rust spots.

@davidb.8948

4 жыл бұрын

Agree 100%

@dougkratz5269

4 жыл бұрын

Not made in USA. Based in Texas, manufactured in China (like covid19)as per their response when I asked. disappointing

@ShellShock794

3 жыл бұрын

Spoken like a true sales rep

Nice idea, you may need some optimizing on the bottom slots vs holes... think you have too much cold air getting in via slots as is, so take your leftover barrel sections and make a hoop tall enough to block all the bottom slots at once, you may need a crimp or three to shorten it up a little so its diameter is reduced to fit snugly inside those tabs/legs. Then you can add some holes a few at a time until you see a point of no gains where it's getting too cool and not getting chimney effect shooting hot gases ot of upper holes. Excess holes could be closed with metal foil if you go too far drilling ventilation holes.

Good job

I didn't see a lotta holes from the burn chamber's bottom to the sidewalls. Looked like you just had a solid pan down there. Maybe I missed it. You should try either wood pellets or stacking 1-2-inch thick stovelengths that reach from the grate to just below the holes below the rim. Stack 'em vertical. Then build a small fire on the top of the thing. I'd experiment with more/bigger air holes at the bottom, and varying the diameter of the holes you drilled at the top. I bet you could get pro-grade results with a few tweaks. You'd think somebody would be cranking out a solo bonfire knock-off at some point. $300 for a fancy burn barrel is a bit steep. But if you made it out of pot metal, maybe it wouldn't last. Perhaps there's something proprietary in the materials they use that just makes it last longer than something cheaper.

I wonder if the top needs to be sealed so the air in the chamber HAS to go out the holes? I may try this.

As many people probably said, It looks like the holes at the top are on the small size. It looks like the primary burn has enough oxygen while the secondary burn is on the oxygen starved side of the equation.

Awesome job! Definitely way cheaper. The solo stove is way to expensive

500 subs from one video. Keep it up.

There shouldn't be a gap between the inner and outer barrel on the top(seal) and the secondary burn air outlet could be bigger. It was obviously not enough hot secondary air enters the burning chamber(could tell by the smoke).

To slow down the consumption of wood being burned,reduce the feed air supply less air power flame the heat will build up into air chamber and exit the enlarged gas holes. That should help you smoke problems

Great work on video mate

I think a relative of mine has something similar in there shed I've cut down some of there brushes and they have a galvanised bin with ano funnel just a lid and in the shed looks like a small size incinarator with holes lots and a kind b

Look at hobo tin stove. It's this out of a milo tin. It will help u mod this. The fire is meant to burn from top to bottom, don't light it at the bottom, light paper or a oily rag on top. Heats up draws gasses down under, mixes with air up sides and jets out the top to re heat burn and gas up again.

That's not a fire pit- that's an incinerator! Your going to need some bucks if you're buying firewood.🤣🤣🤣🤣

Put a L shape 2" pipe bottom leg to outside air other leg in the center. Build the fire on top of bottom leg for draft, should provide 2nd burn and clean up the smoke.

@R1559

4 жыл бұрын

Having trouble picturing this...

The smoke is because you aren't getting a secondary burn. I think your design could get a secondary burn with a little more tweaking though. Nice video.

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

yeah, no real gasification. my build was actually bigger than the solo bonfire. i think the gap between the 2 barrels was too wide. that kept velocity down on the jets of air. the width of the fire pit was also too wide so even though the air in between the double walls got hot, they couldn't mix with the unburnt smoke to heat up for gasification. i did see a little bit of gasification right at the jets though.

Cheaper to buy the actual product since I do not own the tools or barrels to make my own homemade copy kat fire pit. Great job building the product at home.

@albertosanzdelcastillo4714

5 жыл бұрын

technically solo stove was the first copy kat of the homeless barrels... the concept is pay 600 dollars and now you are a way cooler than the homeless... but if you do it yourself you are a fake

Boy you were thinking on that one ,nice job

I'm betting your HOA loves that shit. Nice build anyway. :)

There is no air intake on the bottom of the solo stove though. It is enclosed and the holes at the bottom just help disperse heat.

It works...I see fire. Mission accomplished

If you want the wood gas effect try filling it up with wood. I made one and I didn't get the wood gas effect until I filled it up with wood. It's not based on your model, but similar. I used one 55 gallen .060 barrel.

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I was thinking that. I tried to fill it up with wood and got better jets but still not the effect I wanted. I think I might have to fill it with wood chips to get the full effect.

Could be wrong here but would it not help to have your jet type holes all around the edge at a slight angle helping that upward pressure from the fire pull the extra air from inside the two walls. Gotta help somewhat I would think

I have a used water heater. I think this will work

I think your secondarys need to be bigger with a unit scaled up to that size. Best to seal the two drums together as other comments suggest and reduce main intake as it is pulling too much air that would otherwise rise up and out the secondary injection. It is a fine balance between the two. Nice design overall though. Well done.

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

yeah, no real gasification. my build was actually bigger than the solo bonfire. i think the gap between the 2 barrels was too wide. that kept velocity down on the jets of air. the width of the fire pit was also too wide so even though the air in between the double walls got hot, they couldn't mix with the unburnt smoke to heat up for gasification. i did see a little bit of gasification right at the jets though.

I can appreciate the effort but not everyone has the tools or skills to do what you did. Also it greatly lacks the wow factor. Great job regardless but I'm happy to pay $269 shipped for the bonfire with stand (I wish I paid $239 - I don't need the stand)

No screen on top makes it illegal here in most parts of Ontario. Cities do not allow open flame campfires here. Outside gas firepits are still in question. Because it is still possible to throw a piece of paper on one and have the flaming paper float into nearby trees etc.

When I was making a Stirling engine I needed a stove, which was small and produced a large amount of heat, finally searching for this channel, I observed the shape and system that was used. I felt a similarity to something that we used often in the past. using this kind of tool in remote villages has been used for hundreds of years. and the material used is clay. The name is "Anglo", please check Google maybe another alternative. thanks.

You made it more like a rocket stove , its a very aggressive flame , I think to much air coming up from the centre maybe , also maybe a bigger acumulater might work But I like ur thinking , bigger and better

The problem is too much air flow into the lower chamber under the wood. This means the air can flow through the main fire unrestricted and the reburn ports can't keep up. A restrictor plate under the main fire should solve much of your smoke problem.

I think you might get closer to the desired effect if you RESTRICTED the air flow from underneath a smidge. I'd experiment with that. I don't think it's the width of the barrel. That's about the same width as the store-bought. But look at the store-bought and see how many holes THEY have for the main air in? And how big they are? I think you've got a great burn barrel, there, if your purpose is to burn a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. You're still going to get some jet effect, in spots, but I just think the amount of flow up through the bottom makes it a total up-draft situation, and the jets along the rim are never going to amount to much, because you're getting a pretty complete and instant burn in the main chamber. You want to keep it from all going up, at once. That'd be an easy think for you to adjust. As a middle-aged fellah, whose time is worth more than his money on most things, I think I'll kick things off by starting with the store-bought, and reverse-engineering it, with a clear understanding of how it's SUPPOSED to work. I THINK you captured the essence of it, though, and just need to fine-tune the amount of air you let in through the bottom. When it's working, right, the vacuum created by convection in the side wall is enough to create a DOWN-draft around the outer holes in the bottom, with some in-flux through the center that is upward. And what's convecting up the side wall is a more significant fraction of the total air through the system from underneath.

WAY too much bottom air. That is why it burns so much wood. Reduce bottom air, it will be a touch harder to light when cold, but will reduce fuel consumption. The “smokeless” feature is because of the super heated air injected near top of combustion area.

Drums $20ea = $40 Jigsaw blade $3 Nuts and bolts $.25ea = $1 Aluminum pan $1 (One time use) Allthread 3X-$5 = $15 Total $60 Still cheaper than the original but barrels will rust out in no time at all with that kind of heat.

Needs larger holes for the heated air to exit at the top. That will reduce your smoke

I wonder if you just kept the drums full size, the smaller one drill holes in the bottom and somewhere half way, set it in the larger drum set off the bottom with spacers? That way you are super heating all of the intake air? Also, never fill it more than half way with fuel? That way you also get a chimney effect?

I think that there probably isn't enough air getting in at the bottom, those slots at the bottom are taking air for the bottom of fire and the jet holes, they need a lot of air.

I’m going to make one . I like it !

nice place

Smaller air chamber between the walls and you MIGHT have gotten the secondary burn. Let me know if you want a Bonfire

So basically, you built a cheap incinerator!

That's awesome dude !!

Yours seems better to use I Sprijg and Fall , it creates Heat, while the Solo Doesn't and good for Summer..And We need some smoke at ours to keep the Bugs away.. So got to Own Both! And Both have to take 2 hrs to cool down inorder tol pack them up and take with..that would be a overnite Jib and ready to clean up and pack it away it away.. We used our Left over Double Walled Chimmney Pieces from our Pellet Stove at Home..need that Double Wall and a SS Grate..to last 5 Seasons..vs only 1-2 using single Steel ..But it can be done..

Great job! All that air underneath will make you go through the whole Sahara Forest in no time! Or melt first! Is there a way you can make the air adjustable underneath somehow to slow the burn down a tad?

nice job.. looks great..

Great job!

Are you burning pine? All that popping sounds like it.

Good job 👍

Bro you should make more vids👀👍

So basically they are doubled wall with vent holes.

Close.. Good idea... Still looks like it smokes a lot.

Also if you can possibly get that jet system at some sort of an angle to where the fire / heat / gases getting sucked Thru there would spin the flame also. Just thinking out loud here. Doesn’t necessarily have to just be tiny regular drilled holes. Just like u angled that top piece. Maybe angle the inside one also at the top of the blank space and then try to have an angled 45’ inward toward center along with a 45’ or so angle towards one side or the other. Extra air being pulled and spun I believe would give u even more upward pressure making a pretty cool flame I would assume. Could also cheat and buy something for that part at least. Not sure why exhaust parts came to mind. Wasn’t in the picture in my head but that might end up looking pretty damn cool also. If your gunna put the work into it instead of just having a regular style fire burning barrel. Then maybe even donate one to some homeless people that could use the extra heat right now somewhere. Who knows. P.S. I love your silent tools. Future. Hah!!! Gets the job done so nicely. Lol. Honestly tho better than hearing them on these videos like everyone else. Was getting ready to mute the volume for the grinder but what a difference that makes. Nice video

Hey genius, you didn’t get the carrying bag because you didn’t spend the extra $265.00 (sarcasm intended).

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

that was going to be my next build but then i realized i'd have to build the sewing machine first

@harrymills2770

5 жыл бұрын

@@diyordie1599 : You two.

@harrymills2770

5 жыл бұрын

@@diyordie1599 : I can't be seen in a fabric store, so I save up my Crown Royal bags and sew 'em together by candlelight.

I can make that, I love your moto

Fuck the over priced solo stove!! I'll take this one any day!

There is always try and fail than not to. Now you're ready for the 2nd successful attempt. Make a bit small. This is probably too large with not enough holes in it. I don't see good secondary burn there. Lot of tracers, streaks and smoke.

Hi there, I like your set up and I think that you were good until 3:25 min. The drill pan was awesome. Twist the tabs to 45 degrees to create a vortex. Weld the gap between the two drums at the top. No hot air leakage will result on better wood gasification thru the jets on top. Weld handles. Is burning faster because of the bigger opening at the bottom. Verify picture at 0.16sec. "I can do that" Good luck. HURRICANE MARIA SURVIVOR 💪💪🇵🇷💪💪😎

@harrymills2770

6 жыл бұрын

At a guess, I'd say try enlarging the holes at the top. For experimentation, it's kind of nice that he didn't pin everything.

@diyordie1599

6 жыл бұрын

yeah, no real gasification. my build was actually bigger than the solo bonfire. i think the gap between the 2 barrels was too wide. that kept velocity down on the jets of air. the width of the fire pit was also too wide so even though the air in between the double walls got hot, they couldn't mix with the unburnt smoke to heat up for gasification. i did see a little bit of gasification right at the jets though.

👍👍👍👍

The inner barrel shouldn’t be higher than the exterior barrel.

Nice work

Good video! Would it also work with a box shape design or does it need to be round?

You did a verry nice job!! Did you say it was to big to have a fully secondary burn?? Because it was to wide?? Maybe if you made the holes bigger and add some more holes on the top inside it will be perfect,.... What is your oppinion?? Plzzz ignore thise bs comments,..

If u just punched some about 4" from bottom barrel & slid # 4 rebar thru them creating a shelf fr wood sit on u woulda got exact same affect

It's a great vid. But where do we get free metal drums...

Ouch you owe some new teeth.. that scrape 😳