My new homemade Ti Cone… what connection have others done??

cripes… forgot the most important part… weights!

Split Cone alone (if burning esbit/alcohol) – 41g

Wood burning accessories (inverted cone, mesh floor, ring to support mesh floor, stakes to support pot) – 39g

Total Weight – 80g

Looks great!

If you put a few bends along those holes, you could slide a stake straight though.  Probably a bit heavier than your strip, but easy with gloves on.  Instead of a stake, maybe you could make a wider ribbon and then fold it along the length in to a V or Z to give is some rigidity so you can insert it like a stake.

I currently use slots and tabs, but I’m not that happy with them.

You should take a look at zenstoves.net if you haven’t yet.  They’ve got gobs of info on windscreens and pot stands.

Not sure if you would consider it an “interlocking slots/tabs” joint, but I use a flat lock seam that runs the length of the ends to be joined:

@autox – Rene, now THAT is the right way to do stakes. Thanks for the suggestion! I thought about using stakes but for some reason didn’t conceptualize bending the screen “vertically” like you suggest… I tried “horizontal” bends so the connection become very wavy, which I didn’t like at all. Since bending like you did may take up a little length on the circumference of the cone, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to switch to that method at this point (my cone is almost too tight on the pot as it is), but I’ll very likely use this method for my next cone. Thanks again!

@gearmaker – David, thanks for sharing. I did think of this option but really wanted a connection that locked the cone both directions (compression and tension) so didn’t go this route. I imagine this would probably work just fine 99% of the time, especially if it was a single (not split) cone. But the lower section of a split cone is (at least partially) being compressed inward by the upper cone, which this connection doesn’t seem like it would resist much at all. Have you ever had issues w/ the joint coming undone?

Rudy, you’re totally correct about the flat lock seam not being good in compression. I haven’t had any issues with this type of joint, but my cones are only in tension.

Shoulder rivets, as seen on the old Pac-Flat reflectors for candle lanterns, might be an interesting option.  I haven’t tried them on a windscreen, but the worked great on the reflectors.

Walt

Several years ago I made a titanium foil roll-up wood stove with horizontal tabs for the closure. I used very brittle (after heating) 15-3-3-3 beta titanium alloy foil, and a crack in the edge of the foil is visible in the photo below. I wouldn’t expect this to be a problem with CP grades, especially if all corners are rounded in the cut. This kind of tab doesn’t allow any hoop tension, so it might or might not work for your application. The whole project is described here.

Here’s what I settled on: This is an early cone stitched together with a piece of brazing rod I had on hand. A ti skewer stake works well too.
I like this for its simplicity and ‘bi-directional’ stability. The ease of actually threading the rod through the holes depends on the size of the holes and how far apart the holes are.

Some of the overlapping excess material can be trimmed for weight savings:

-Lance

To join upper and lower halves of a split cone, put square teeth on the adjoining edges (like what you see across the top of a castle).  Bend them out slightly to make it easier to connect the halves.  Be sure the vertical seams in the two halves are not aligned – best if their 180d apart.

This will lock out any horizontal/circumferential motion (change in diameter) at the horizontal seam, as well as inhibit any vertical shifting of the facing edges at either vertical seam.

@dancingbear – definitely not familiar w/ the Pac-Flat reflectors. I’ll have to look those up. Is there any advantage to the shoulder rivet, vs just a standard rivet? I’d be interested if there’s a “key hole” type rivet that’s wider at its top to help “lock-in” the connection.

@ckrusor – Colin, that’s an awesome wood stove! I’d love to know more about how you made it and how it performed. Obviously you had the material issue, but how did it do otherwise? I recently made the “Penny Wood Stove” as well and have been really happy w/ how it performs so would love a super light, foldable version like yours :)

@lancem – Lance, that’s a nice basic connection. Definitely a fair bit of extra material due to the large overlap needed, but I bet this is very easy to connect!

@autox – Rene, do you have any pictures of the square castle connection? I think I’m envisioning it correctly but am curious to see one actually built. If I’m picturing it right, there would be a lot of tabs to get hung up things/eachother when rolling. I’m a big fan of nice smooth edges so that would probably drive me nuts :)

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/57714/

Yes, you get an upper and lower edge covered in tabs.  You can trim them to semi-circles to reduce the potential for snagged corners, and bend them slightly inwards instead of out, to reduce the chances of snagging.  You could also reduce it to 2 tabs so there are fewer to cause trouble.

The heads of the shoulder rivets stand up a bit from the surface they’re riveted to, and the head is larger than the rest of the rivet, so it makes sort of a button.  This can engage with a hole on the mating part.  The tension of the sheet metal will hold it in place.

Here’s a link to the candle lantern reflector so you can see how it’s used.

http://ucogear.com/pac-flat-reflector.html

Walt