STEP 1.  PUT ON YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!!!.  Always use eye protection when working with metal.  Make the burner.  Take the 3 ounce can of cat food, remove the lid and empty the contents. No holes are drilled in the 3 ounce burner.

STEP 2.  Make the Stoves Simmer base.  Take the 5.5 ounce cat food can, remove and save the lid. Using a sharp knife, tin snips (or hole saw) cut a 1-1/2" exhaust hole in the bottom center of the can, this is the only hole in the simmer base.  The exhaust hole must not exceed the inner diameter of the smallest circle in the bottom of the can.

Use your knife or tin snips and cut a half moon simmer plate from the discarded lid from the 5.5 ounce can.  Bend up a corner to make it easy to grab.

That's it for the stove, that was easy. Now the pot stand ...

POT STAND:

STEP 3.  Make the wire pot stand. Take the three coat hangers and cut out the long straight section from the bottom rung of each hanger.  Measure a 4.5" inch section in the center of the wire, using your pliers bend two 90 degrees angles (in the same direction) to create the legs.  Cut the legs off at 2.5" inch lengths.  IMPORTANT: For best performance - do not alter the size of this pot stand.

Note: You can also build this pot stand from heavy duty wire used to hang suspended ceilings.

STEP 4.  Assemble the wire stand. Cut two 2-1/4 inch long pieces of 1/4" hollow copper tubing and slide it over two legs of the pot stand, then do the same with another pair of legs.  I prefer to leave the last pair of legs free in order to make adjustments for different pot sizes and also for storage.  Secure the legs in the copper tube by crimping or squeezing the center of the copper tube with your pliers or pounding flat with a hammer.

I have other pot stand designs for my Cat alcohol stoves, check them out at ... J. Falk's Pot Stands

STEP 5.  Assemble the stove and create the air intake.

Method 1:   Take 3 or 4 small pieces of wire coat hanger and bend in a long "U" shape. Slide the hanger pieces (evenly spaced) over the top rim of the 3 oz burner, followed by placing the simmer base over the burner. This is my favorite setup. I found you get the best burn times using this configuation! Average boil time for 2 cups of water with this setup, using 3 tea spoons of denatured alcohol is about 4-1/2 minutes.

HOW IT WORKS: The spacers create a small gap at the base and inside the stove between the top of the 3 oz burner and the 5.5 oz base. This creates a draft for the air to enter the stove through the air intake at the base, race up the inside, enter the burning chamber over the top gap, then exit out the exhaust hole, creating a constant stoking of the fire.

Here's a few other ways to create the air intake gap ...

Method 2:   Place the 3 ounce burner on a non-combustible flat surface. Take 6 pennies, stack 2 pennies together in 3 piles, place them in 3 evenly spaced positions around the 3 ounce burner. This will create the air intake or gap between the ground and base of the stove.

Place the 5.5 ounce simmer base over the 3 ounce burner, resting on the penny spacers. Followed by placing the wire pot stand over the stove, making adjustments to the size of the cooking pot.

Method 3:   Here's another ... slide 3 large paper clips (evenly spaced) over the edge of the simmer base. Adjust the extended legs to the thickness of 2 stacked pennies then place the simmer base over the 3 ounce burner.

As you can see this is a versatile stove. You can create the air intake using multiple methods!

NOTE: The burn time is controled by the size of the air intake gap. If the intake gap is to wide the burn times will be short (wasting fuel) and if to small the burn times will be long. It's a small margin to work with. I like using the "U" shaped coat hanger pieces (shown in method 1 above) to create the air intake, they give the most consistent performance.

TO START THIS STOVE:
Place the stove on a safe, flat non-combustible surface.  Assemble the stove as directed in Step 5 above.  Carefully pour 3 to 4 tea spoons of denatured alcohol into the 3 ounce burner through the exhaust hole. Wipe up any spillage.

Carefully ignite through the top exhaust hole with a lighter or match.  Wait about 10 seconds for the stove to heat. Carefully place your cooking pot on the wire pot stand, followed by placing your windscreen around the pot.

You can boil larger volumes of water with this stove. I mentioned at the beginning about boiling 6 to 8 cups of water by simply using more denatured alcohol. 7 tea spoons of denatured alcohol will boil 6 cups of water in about 10 minutes. Since there's no holes in the 3 ounce burner you can use more fuel for boiling larger volumes of water when needed. `

Fuel efficient stoves are extremely important when you're on the trail because when you run out of fuel you can't cook. In my opinion there is way too much emphasis on how fast you can boil water. My view is how efficient is the stove in using and conserving fuel. With this stove, using one penny for an air intake spacer, I've been able to boil 2 cups of water within 7 minutes (weather permitting), using only 2 tea spoons of fuel. I would rather sacrifice time over wasting fuel to boil water.

However, if you use the small "U" shaped pieces of coat hanger (method 1 shown above) to create the air intake space, your boil times will be around 4.5 minutes, using 3 tea spoons of denatured alcohol.

Experiment a little, it's allowed. Conserve your fuel, it will pay off when you're on the trail.

NOTE: Depending on the weather, humidity, temperature, wind and cooking pot used the performance and burn times will vary. You may need to adjust the cooking pot used, air intake gap or fuel usage to compensated for climate changes.

TIPS FOR FASTER BOIL TIMES:
Use a larger (4 to 6 cup) thin walled backpacking cooking pot. A larger pot will absorb heat better than small pots which lose heat up the sides. Always use a cover on your cooking pot. Use denatured alcohol instead of 70% rubbing alcohol and always use a windscreen.

For smaller cooking pots, try this trick for faster boil times. Here I'm using a 24 oz aluminum mug with 2 cups of water. Setup the stove with the pot stand and windscreen. Place a lid (not shown) on the mug then place your aluminum eating dish (upside down) over the top of the mug. This will trap the heat escaping up the sides of the pot resulting in a faster boil. You can also make a hood out of tin foil.

NOTE: use only denatured alcohol when trying this trick. Denatured alcohol burns clean leaving no soot, while 70% rubbing alcohol burns dirty and creates a lot of soot, which will make a mess of your eating dish.

HOW TO SIMMER:
Simply place the 5.5 ounce simmer base over the 3 ounce burner excluding the air intake spacers. Place the half moon simmer plate over the exhaust hole. You control the flame size by adjusting the simmer plate over the exhaust hole.

By removing the spacers and placing the simmer base in contact with the ground, you're choking off the air supply into the stove. This will create a low temperature slow burning flame. With this configuration I've been able to simmer up to an hour using 4 tea spoons of denatured alcohol.

Tip: Without removing the air intake spacers, you can go from fast cook to simmer mode by carefully sliding dirt against the stoves base sealing off the air intake gap.

WINDSCREEN:
This stove is shown without a windscreen.  I'm assuming you're familiar with building and using a windscreen.  If not, windscreens can be easily made out of aluminum foil or disposable aluminum pans used to cook large meats like turkey. A windscreen will greatly improve the cooking efficiency of your stove. They are a must have item.

To build a simple windscreen use a long piece of tin foil, folded in half long ways. Fold over the edge where the two sides meet 3/4". Using a paper hole punch, puncture small air intake holes through the folded seam every 1-1/2". Wrap the windscreen (with air intake holes on the bottom) around the stove, pot stand and cooking pot, secure with a paper clip. The tin foil should extend from the ground to about 3" up the side of the cooking pot with a 1/4" gap around the pot.

For storage wrap the windscreen around your fuel bottle and secure with rubber bands.

EXTINGUISH THE FIRE:
Since this is an alcohol fueled stove the only safe way to extinguish a burning fire is to smother the flame. Place an opened ended can (larger in diameter than the 5.5 ounce can) over the top of the stove.  This will cut off the air supply and extinguish the fire.  DO NOT attempt to blow the fire out and DO NOT throw water on the stove, this will only spread the fire.

TIPS:

Always use stoves outside! Never use a stove inside a building, tent or survival structure.

1)  This stove is designed for use "only" with small backpacking cooking pots!!!
2)  This stove uses alcohol based fuels like denatured or 70% rubbing alcohol.  Be careful with alcohol stoves because the flame may not be visible in the light.  WARNING: Never use gas or petroleum based fuels in this stove, doing so will melt and destroy the stove.
3)  Always wipe you hands of any spilled alcohol before lighting the stove.  Failure to do so could cause injury when you ignite the stove.
4)  Make sure the wire pot stand is opened wide enough (before igniting) to support the cooking pot.  Always place the cooking pot on the center of the pot stand.
5)  Keep all body parts and clothes away from the stove at all times.
6)  To avoid flare ups, always remove the cooking pot slowly from the stove.
7)  Always remove the cooking pot from the stove before stirring its contents.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS:
Problem:  In cold weather the fire may have a hard time starting.
Solution:  The stove is not hot enough to sustain the flame. You need to pre-heat the stove. Place a piece of tin foil under the stove. Bend up the edges of the foil to make a bath tub around the stove. Pour a little denatured alcohol in the tub. Carefully light the tub and wait about 30 seconds. This will pre-heat the burner, allowing the flame to continue when you place the cooking pot on the stove. Note: pre-heating will shorten the burn time, so use extra fuel to compensate.

DISCLAIMER:
Use common sense and safety at all times when using any stove.  The author of this web page will not be responsible for any injury or damage resulting from the construction or use of this stove design.  If you choose to build, use or experiment with this design, do so at your own risk.

I also have a few other stoves, check out my ...
The Cheetah Stove
Rocket Cat Stove... The fastest gun in town!
Wood Burning Trail Stove

You like it but don't have time to build one:
Send us an email for a price.  We would be happy to make one for you.

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