In this post and this post I detailed making an alcohol burning backpacking stove from a couple empty drink cans. But in order to cook with it we’ll need a few accessories. Today we’re going to make the snuffer, which we can use to put the stove out when we’re done cooking. Let’s get to work!

Late Breaking News!

It turns out the snuffer didn’t work. Like, at all. In fact, it actually made things worse. We’re going to go back to the drawing board on this one. Please don’t build this version.

Obligatory Safety Warning!

We’re going to be cutting bits out of aluminum beverage cans. They’re made of really thin metal, so the bits are sharp, and could cut you. Be careful! Also, tools are sharp too. Or pokey. Or smashy. They could hurt you too. Be careful! Also also, some or all of the tools and materials involved are known by the state of Cancer to cause California. If you follow these instructions and cut off your legs, don’t come running to me.

The Snuffer

The snuffer works like the candle snuffers you see in church to put out the flame. It’s basically a bell shape that goes over the burner. We’re going to make ours from another drink can.

First cut off the bottom. The height isn’t as critical as it was for the burner parts. Mine is about 20mm high. The process to mark and cut the bottom is exactly the same as we did for the burner, so I won’t go over that again.

Once you’ve cut it out and sanded the edges, peen the mouth of the snuffer just as you did for the burner bottom. In this case you need to get the mouth of the can well open so that it fits over the burner easily.

Note that the peening goes farther back from the edge, and is much more extensive. We’re trying to stretch the metal of the mouth of the snuffer so that it fits over the burner.

Next we need a handle. I just used a bit of the leftover strip of aluminum tape that we used to seal the burner. First I cut a piece about 3.5″ by 0.75″. I folded it in half across the short side (so now the piece is 1.5″ x 0.75″) to make a crease, unfolded it slightly and removed the backing paper. Then I started pressing the adhesive sides against each other, stopping when I had about a half inch unstuck.

Then I carefully spread that last half inch, and stuck the whole business down onto the edge of the can.

All the handle has to do is let you put the snuffer on the burner without getting cooked.

I folded the tab in on itself a couple times, and the snuffer is complete. The handle can be folded for storage, if needed. I’m not sure how long the handle will last, but at least it’s easy to make another.

Folded for storage

That’s all for this week. If any of that didn’t make sense, drop me a comment below and I’ll try to help un-befuddle you. Join us next week, when we make a pot stand! Thanks for reading!