[pct-l] building a Cat Stove

[pumpkin1 at thegrid.net (Nancy Sexton)]

Hi Steve,
I love my catcan stove, it works great! But I had exactly the same questions you have when I was building my stove. 

The instructions say the fiberglass wicking should come about 1 inch from
the bottom of the burner, but stay below the bottom of the can-opener
holes.  The can is only 1.5 inches tall, does this mean the burner holes
should only be about .5 inches?
...I decided it was more important to have adequate wicking, so made my holes smaller. I positioned the point of the can opener at the place I wanted to start the hole on the inside of the can (equal to or less than 1/2 inch from the edge), and started the hole by tapping the can opener with a hammer. The small holes seem to work fine.

I've burned several tablespoons of alcohol in the stove now and the
fiberglass won't stick to the sides. As soon as I try to pull out the
window screen (that holds the fiberglass in place), the fiberglass comes
out.
...I just took the screen out very carefully. The wicking stayed in place, even though it wasn't stuck solid.

I can't find the 2" x 3" welded wire screen. I've found plenty of 2" x 4"
and that would probably work fine for building the stand, but it only
comes in 50 foot rolls for $20.  Is there a good source for the 2" x 3"
welded wire screen that I can find by the foot?
...After much calling around, I couldn't find any to buy, either, so I started asking all my do-it-yourself and construction type friends. Finally someone had a piece of 2"X4" screen. It worked fine. Whatever you get, test it with your pot filled with water. And make sure the bottom of the pot touches all the wires, for stability.

I'm using denatured alcohol from the hardware store.  I thought alcohol
flames were supposed to be invisible but when I run the stove (with no
windscreen and no pot on it) I get tall (maybe .75 feet) orange flames.
Is this normal?  I used the windscreen and boiled a cup of water in about
3 minutes so it appears to be working.  I was just wondering about the
tall orange flames.  Even with the pot and windscreen I could see flames
occasionally coming up around the sides of the pot.
...Others may know more, but I don't think the orange flames are a problem. I could usually see some flame, depending on the light. Seems like an advantage to me, as it helps to keep from catching your shirt sleeves on fire!

Good luck!
Nancy 
"Sunny Skies"