We needed a camping kettle, and I always liked the idea of a "Volcano" style kettle to quickly boil water, in the same vein as a Kelly Kettle, or a Ghillie Kettle.

The idea is to have an internal chimney which gives a huge contact area between the flames and the water, so it is quick to boil, and it doesn't use much fuel.

I started by cutting out the shapes I wanted from 1.2mm aluminium sheet on the trusty Plasma-Cam. I wasn't sure how to scientifically calculate the volume of the water, so I just ignored that and made it a 'reasonable' size.  I was hoping for about 2.5 Litres of water (about 5 pints).  I have a little sheet roller that easily rolls 1.2mm ali, but it wasn't much good at making cone shapes. Took quite a bit of fettling to get the cones to line up nicely.

In the end, the sheets fitted up reasonably well.

TIG welding aluminium is a LOT easier if the fit up is good. Thin aluminium is a bitch to weld at the best of times!

With a bit of hammering the gaps between the pieces were minimised.

I couldn't work out how to make my original base 'stack' neatly with the kettle. I tried a few permutations with some stainless rod acting as a grate, but it was not much chop. Very unstable. 

Prototype 2 of the base was much simpler, just some stainless flat made up into a three pointed star, with a wind shield on one side. For storage the legs point up. When in use it is flipped over and the legs point down.

After doing the first 'test-fire' and seeing the stainless glowing red-hot, I think the thin aluminium base probably would have melted anyway.

Made up a sturdy handle with some HDPE insulation so I can pick it up with bare hands even when it's boiling.

When I tested it, and let it boil for a couple of minutes, the only hot part was the rivets, so I blobbed on some T-Rex adhesive to insulate them too.

And here it is for it's inaugural boiling!  

I just used small twigs and a few leaves, and because it is like a small chimney it draws like mad.

It holds 3 litres of water when full, and it took about 4 minutes to boil at 3/4 full. Obviously, if you put less water in it it should boil even faster.

Once the flames start, it really goes!

When I lifted the kettle off the flames, the stainless base was glowing red hot, so probably a good idea that I didn't make it out of aluminium!

This is how the version 2 base stores away, underneath the main kettle and upside down. Because all the flame action happen inside the kettle, you don't get a messy black coating on the outside, so it is easy to store without everything else getting covered in black stuff.

The last thing to finish it off will be some sort of stopper, probably a rubber one, with a small whistle in it so you know when it's boiling.

If you are thinking of building one yourself, the dimensions are:

• 350mm high
• 185mm diameter for the base
• 60mm diameter at the top of the chimney
• Approx 3 litres capacity

If I was going to make another one (which I'm not!) I'd make it a bit smaller, as you don't really need 3 litres capacity I don't think. 2.5 litres would be sufficient, so you could make it smaller all round, maybe 320mm high and 160mm diameter. Don't make the chimney hole smaller though, or you'll have trouble poking sticks down the top!