Fancyfeast Stove

[Patchfoot]

Mine isn't working that well. I have to be very careful about how I place the pot on the stove or the flame gets snuffed pretty easily. Also, sometimes the flame just goes out on its own. I don't think I could make the pot stand (which is stainless steel mesh) any taller without making it even more unstable (it isn't terrible stable at the moment anyway).

I'm gonna keep screwing around with it, but I might just buy one of Zelph's stoves. Which do you prefer Zelph, the ff or the starlyte?

[zelph]

i think my dad might. i'll have to call and see if he'll let me borrow it

Time to go over and pay a visit with Dad

Take a couple of cans with you and cut them over his place. Dads don't like to lend tools out, they have a hard time finding their way back in a timely fashion

Patchfoot. for two I prefer the FF it holds 3 ounces of fuel.

Going solo I recommend the 1 ounce capacity SS StarLyte UltraLyte.

Give me your address and I'll send you the stove that I made with the sink strainer.

[Wags]

hehe dad just has a little rotary tool thingy and isn't powerful enough to cut cleanly through the can. guess i gotta pay a visit to this buddy of mine who is a car junky gearhead

[buckwheat]

Dogs will always eat cat food, but not vice versa.

And in a pinch, a dog will just eat the cat.

But not vice versa.

[sclittlefield]

Hey Zelph - got a project for you (I'll be trying it myself, but I trust your work far more than mine, especially when it comes to testing). This one will not be for the gram weenies. More of a weekend or base camp stove.

I want to make a FF, but with the larger aluminum cat food can (I forget the size, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, closer to a tuna can size). It'll have a wider base for larger pot stability and can hold a serious amount of alcohol. I'm thinking it might work for larger group camping, but more importantly I've got a friend who is more of a gormet than a "just boil water" camper. I've been trying to outfit him with my DIY projects (beer bottle side jet stove and hammock so far). I want to find a relatively light weight alcohol stove (you know, lighter than a doubler burner coleman white gas stove that he can use a mid-sized skillet to fry eggs, bacon, etc. on. It may want a slightly wider burning section between the stand and the can wall, but I really don't know.

I just built a beefy version of your Starlyte (with the FF can, so it holds a lot and really puts out the heat - it has potential. But with a bigger can, more burning area and more fuel... think it would work?

[Wags]

ok well i finally picked up some hardwear cloth and have begun to work on this stove. my 1st attempt, let's just say i'm glad i did it outside. WAY TOO BIG of a flame. i'm assuming i have too much fiberglass cloth exposed. gonna let it cool, lower the cloth and give it another go. will get some pictures up when i get a few

[Wags]

ok the 2nd burn went better, but i still think i have too much cloth exposed, resulting in too big of a flame.

[Wags]

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0037.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0038.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...s/IMG_0040.jpg

[Wags]

sry for that big picture. i'm unsure how to do the thumbnails that you can idle cursor over and have em enlarge. so i just included some links

[Skidsteer]

Your exposed fiberglass isn't too far off really. Problem is, you're using hardware cloth as a stand which makes it basically a open cup stove with a wick plus 2 3/8" diameter of horizontal surface area for combustion. Lots of combustion.

Zelph uses a solid rolled piece of SS or a very tightly woven SS screen mesh which puts all or most of the flame on the sides of the stove and not in the center. Think side burner.

[Wags]

hmmmmm. i thought zelph's original FF was with hardware cloth before he got the idea for the SS mesh. maybe i'm thinking of somethign else. i have no idea where to locate this mesh as all the globe replacements being sold now are glass i'll have to keep my eyes peeled

regardless, the burn time appeared longer than my standard supercat. definitely a concept worth exploring (the wick).

thanks skids

[Skidsteer]

hmmmmm. i thought zelph's original FF was with hardware cloth before he got the idea for the SS mesh. maybe i'm thinking of somethign else. i have no idea where to locate this mesh as all the globe replacements being sold now are glass i'll have to keep my eyes peeled

regardless, the burn time appeared longer than my standard supercat. definitely a concept worth exploring (the wick).

thanks skids

Nope. SS Mesh was the first one(posted, at any rate).

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...42&postcount=1

You can make a test stove using the bottom of a V-8 can(thicker fiberglass wrap)or an Anheuser-Busch Slimline can(thinner fiberglass wrap)to see the difference in burn times.

[zelph]

Hey Zelph - got a project for you (I'll be trying it myself, but I trust your work far more than mine, especially when it comes to testing). This one will not be for the gram weenies. More of a weekend or base camp stove.

I want to make a FF, but with the larger aluminum cat food can (I forget the size, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, closer to a tuna can size). It'll have a wider base for larger pot stability and can hold a serious amount of alcohol. I'm thinking it might work for larger group camping, but more importantly I've got a friend who is more of a gormet than a "just boil water" camper. I've been trying to outfit him with my DIY projects (beer bottle side jet stove and hammock so far). I want to find a relatively light weight alcohol stove (you know, lighter than a doubler burner coleman white gas stove that he can use a mid-sized skillet to fry eggs, bacon, etc. on. It may want a slightly wider burning section between the stand and the can wall, but I really don't know.

I just built a beefy version of your Starlyte (with the FF can, so it holds a lot and really puts out the heat - it has potential. But with a bigger can, more burning area and more fuel... think it would work?

Yes it will work. Use the bigger can.

I'll let you all in on a little secret. I like the Fancee Feest stove the best of all the stoves that I have created. Because of it's steady flame pattern under a pot and it's one piece and has a 2 ounce fuel capacity.

My second choice is the Ring of Fire stove for it's stability when I'm lazy.

3rd is the StarLyte because of it's safety feature of non spilling of fuel. I use this one as my backup to wood for fuel/cooking. Also it is super lightweight.

I don't push the sale of the Fancee Feest because it is labor intensive and I like to have time to play with designing other stoves. I really like sharing these stoves with every one. I'll try harder to make them available.

Since I started my own forums type website I forget to share everything in duplicate by posting it here. All of you that are truly interested in making and designing stoves should register at bplite.com to keep up to date on new methods and design that are being submitted on a regular basis. At least once a week sign in and get updated. There is a special forum called "Stovie Central" that has all the nitty gritty stuff discussed.

We have a thread there that is named "Stove Making Tips" there you will find lots of great pointers on stove stuff materials. One of them is stainless steel for stoves (Fancee Feest included) It's just the right size in height for the Fancee Feest. The material is available at most of your better hardware/building materials store.

Read this thread, it's one of many:

"Stove Making Tips For Stovies"

HikingPA, Skidsteers info is what you need to follow. Look through this thread for more info.

.

[Wags]

with a solid metal interior (ie. not the mesh) will i have to put some small tabs at the bottom of the inside metal? to allow the fuel to make it to the cloth?

[zelph]

with a solid metal interior (ie. not the mesh) will i have to put some small tabs at the bottom of the inside metal? to allow the fuel to make it to the cloth?

No. Liquids have a way of getting under the smallest of spaces. Wait a few seconds after putting the fuel in for the fuel to seep under the potsupport and all is well.

[Wags]

ok. maybe tomorrow i'll head to the hardware store and see if i can find one of those fasteners. thanks

[sclittlefield]

I just made a combo - FF and Starlyte. I used the FF size cat food can, and filled it with pink insulation, double wrapped with fiberglass cloth, and topped off with aluminum screen. Filled it with 2oz of SLX denatured alcohol and touched it off this morning before heading in to work.

Test (I use the word loosely):
It is 3*F outside. I'm sorry, I've got no times for you, it was a hasty job. The fuel has been in the shed, unheated, since summer, so it was 3*F. I did not use a windscreen. I used a cheap aluminum pot, wide base (mess kit type) with 3 cups of solidly frozen water (left outside in the pot for a week). I touched it off, slow start because of the cold, but it took just fine. Went inside to pack up for work (a watched pot never boils) and expected it to be out with a large ice cube in the pot when I checked it around 10 min later. The stove was still going full steam, the water is boiling powerfully, and it goes for at least another 10 min.

I'm pleased. This should work well for my friend who's more of a gourmet cook than a "just boil water" cook. I think for myself I'll go with the original starlyte style.

P.S. (I did do the larger catfood can with the FF style wick and stand. It was, I think, too powerful.) This one is smaller and plenty robust.

P.P.S. Thanks to Zelph for showing us your new ideas and designs so we can tinker around more easily.

[zelph]

I just made a combo - FF and Starlyte. I used the FF size cat food can, and filled it with pink insulation, double wrapped with fiberglass cloth, and topped off with aluminum screen. Filled it with 2oz of SLX denatured alcohol and touched it off this morning before heading in to work.

P.P.S. Thanks to Zelph for showing us your new ideas and designs so we can tinker around more easily.

The Fancee Feest and Starlyte are easy to make stoves and are user friendly. Glad to have been able to share them with all.

[Wags]

SWEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!! i finally think i got this stove made properly!!!!!! i'll be waiting until sunset to give it a test run and will post some pictures. thanks so much zelph and skids

[Wags]

yup it works! burn was much more controlled. i took some pictures but i don't know how to do that thumbnail thing and don't wanna clog up all these pages. anyone care to share a quick tutorial?

woohoo!!!!!! i didn't do any time tests, heck i didn't even get out the windscreen b/c it's too damn cold, but my DA was pretty cold from sitting in the garage and it lit right away (most likely b/c of the wick). i used zelph's idea about getting the plumbers flashing thing. 2 inches did work well, with a little left over in the inside. i also like the higher fuel capacity in case i'm cooking for 2

thanks so much guys. onto my next stove now. hmmm which one?