I understand what you are saying HJ, and I would love the stability of the cone since I am near-paranoid when it comes to safety around fire and other hazards... However, there are ready-made cans ( like new paint cans at Home Depot ) that have a half-inch space between the wall and top opening where the lid fits.



When you drill holes near the top , the space between can wall and the inserted pot will be equal or even greater than is there in the cone.

Re: some stoves being highly tuned comapred to home-made ones, well, we can always steal ideas from your great blog and end up with great stoves. :-)

Thanks HJ.