Mother's Compact Cookstove Heater

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To put the reservoir together, Emerson first cut a square-ended, curved pattern block from a piece of 3/4" plywood ... trimming its outer edge along the path formed by swinging a length of string along a 15" radius, and marking its inner boundary in the same manner, but using a radius 4 inches shorter to guarantee that the inside wall of the tank would rest close to the stove's skin.

Next, he cut out two curved plates of copper, each about 3/8" larger, all around, than is the template block itself . . . then trimmed a series of "pie slice" notchesan inch apart and 3/8" deep-in the arced sides of each plate. (The four remaining straight ends are not trimmed in the same manner, but 90° notches should be cut from their corners to assure a smooth fit after the skirts are folded.)

With this done, Emerson sliced out two 12"-wide sections of plate-one 22-3/4" and the other 24" in length-then folded the skirts on the four edges of the top and bottom sections and the two ends of the tank's faceplate, as in the drawing. He also made the appropriate bends, 4 inches in from the side borders, to form the narrow walls of the container.

Before soldering the vessel together, Smyers installed a spigot and a fill port. The cap was made from a 1/2" piece of 1-1/2" copper tube soldered to a 2" disk, and its receptacle is simply a strip of 3/8" X 4-3/4" copper formed into a circle and soldered over a 1-1/2" hole in the upper surface of the tank. A small knob and keep chain are fastened to the lid with a brass machine screw. The draincock has a 1/8" pipe thread and is held in place by a bushing nut secured to the back side of the container's faceplate.

Emerson points out that it's wise to position this drain orifice at least an inch above the bottom of the tank so there's always a bit of liquid left in the vessel . . . thus assuring that the reservoir will never get hot enough to actually melt its solder joints. Of course, since water heated in this tank could be used for hot beverages, the solder must be nontoxic ... and we discovered that the Inweld Manufacturing Corporation (Dept. TMEN, P.O. Box 631, Greenwich, Connecticut 06836-0631) makes an FDA-approved solder which is available in the company's Kit No. 330.

Finally, to carry the cooker's practicality one step further, the researcher surrounded it with a tubular copper utensil rack which stands away from the firebox, resting in a series of eyebolts. To bend this circular holder to shape, he first scribed a 25"diameter circle on a wooden work surface, then tacked small blocks of scrap wood every several inches along this ring to serve as a form around which he shaped 80" or so of 318" soft copper tubing. Once it's installed on the stove, of course, the eyebolt fasteners prevent it from expanding, so there's no need to secure the free ends of the ring to each other with anything more than a coupling.

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