Oil Drum Handicraft

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STOVE OIL TANK

One of the most common sights in the North is a stove oil tank made from a drum. Such containers are inexpensive, easy to build and can be used for any small oil stove or furnace.

In the top of the fuel barrel you'll find two threaded holes, one large and one small. You'll be using the bigger opening to fill the tank from time to time, and the other is the point where you'll attach the connection to the stove.

At your local plumbing supply store, purchase a tank valve with a three-quarter-inch standard pipe thread (male) to fit the threads in the small hole of the drum. The other end of the valve should have a fitting for the size of tubing used on your stove or furnace. If you don't have a pipe flaring tool to attach the gadget, ask the supplier for flareless fittings.

A strong support (I used two- by four-inch wood) should be built to hold the drum in a horizontal position at least three feet above the stove's carburetor.

OTHER USES FOR DRUMS

You can make an excellent culvert out of "tundra daisies" by cutting the tops and bottoms from the barrels and welding the cylinders together end to end.

Or—if you have several drums in good condition—you can easily use them for a boat dock, since they're very buoyant and easy to work with. Just strap the empty containers together with angle iron and cover them with wooden planks.

And finally, cut a barrel in half lengthwise, weld a few metal rods across the opening and you'll have a large, useful barbecue.

BLAZO CANS

During the long, frigid winter months, one of the most trying of all human duties is the visit to that coldest of all man's curses: the outhouse. Fortunately, there's a solution for the not-so-brave adventurer.

Remove the top from a five-gallon Blazo can and drill two holes near and on opposite sides of the opening to take a wire carrying handle. Find an old toilet seat or cut an eight-inch hole in a piece of plywood that's large enough to fit over the tin.

To prepare the toilet for use, fill the can three-quarters full of water and pour in about a quart of kerosene, stove oil, diesel fuel or the like . . . but not gasoline. There should be about one-fourth to one-half inch of fuel on top of the water.

This oily layer will prevent any odor (except its own) from escaping.

Blazo cans with the tops cut out also make great storage bins, garbage containers, water pails and dish-washing buckets. If you can get enough of them, the same tins will shingle your cabin roof if you cut out both ends of each can and flatten the remainder.

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