By this morning, all the components had arrived, so I rolled up my sleeves, went to the workbench and built myself a cooker. The result is in my photo album.

By the end of the afternoon, it was ready for trials, and I cooked my first meal on it.

Problems:

The gimballing is not very good. Although the pivots are 6cm above the pan supports, so that they are near the free surface of the liquid in the pan, the centre of gravity of the whole assemblage is still not far enough below the pan, and the cooker is not heavy enough. This shows up in a way that I hadn't anticipated: A pan with a heavy handle, like my Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker, has its CG quite far out from the centre of the pan itself. The cooker will tilt, under this influence, and the pan will slide to one side, increasing the effect. Even my kettle, which is symmetrical and has no handle out to one side, will cause the cooker to tilt if it is not exactly central, even though it can move only 1cm. The only cure would seem to be a large lump of lead bonded to the bottom of the cooker.

The tank cannot be much higher than the built-in tank in the Maxie cooker, or the needle valve cannot close off the flow completely. It cannot be particularly well made. If the tank was higher, there was a fiercer flame than I thought was good for for the burner.

The knob softened in the heat transmitted along the spindle, and would not turn the spindle at the end of cooking. I was glad of the on/off valve near the tank. I will have to find a more heat-resistant knob.

All in all, though, I think the concept is viable. At least I have a cooker that is safe enough, is easy to light and adjust, is fast, is easy to refill and will retain a pan in a rough sea.

David Tyler wrote:

The problems are fivefold, I think:

• I don't know of a model that's made from marine grade non-corrodible materials, that would last long enough to be worth installing.
• I don't know of a model that is able to work in a heeling, rolling, pitching boat. They all have loose parts and rely on being in a static environment.
• They are tall - there's the tank, then the burner, then the flame modifying device that makes it burn hot and clean.
• At the beginning and end of burning, there's always some part-burnt fuel and vapour released. You would have to live with darkened paint around the galley.
• When not in use, there's always a small amount of evaporation of fuel. The cabin - and you - would smell of kero.

Everything can be fixed, if you are a skilled sheet metalworker and can design and make your own cooker, but I don't know of any commercial model of marine wick-burner cooker having been made.

This is good information.  There is an aluminum model, the Butterfly A822 14k BTU 22-Wick Kerosene Aluminum Cook Stove which I think would address #1.  I do have a brother that is semi-retired and is a skilled sheet metal worker that can make just about anything out of metal.  Maybe we need to come up with a cooker design similar to what was done with SibLim that would meet our needs.  I like the simplicity of the Origo but find the fuel difficult.  I like kerosene but find the Taylor stoves expensive to buy and maintain.  Maybe the Maxie is the answer and maybe it is not as fussy about the quality of alcohol but I am not sure how I would ever get to see one in the United States.

I've solved the problem of finding a gravity feed tank for an alcohol cooker. First, I asked Tek-Tanks for a quotation for a custom tank. Let's just say that the price was more than an entire Origo Two. I declined to proceed.

So off I went to eBay, and found that there is a gravity feed fuel tank intended for use when working on a motorcycle engine with the fuel tank removed for easier access - the 1 litre Sealey MS029 tank. It's widely available at under £17, including a hose, on/off valve and hose tail.

I'm considering replacing my 1979 Force 10 2 Burner Kerosene Stove Top with an alcohol stove -  the previous owner handed me a box of spare parts and a small bag with two pricking nipples and the admonition that, "Of all things on the boat, don't lose those two little piece of metal.  They're harder to replace than the rigging."

Is there anyway to view the Maxie 2 Burner here in the United States?

I have always been curious about kerosene wick stoves.  I have never used one and have always wondered why I have never heard of one used on a boat.  Is there a reason the wick stoves are not used?  

We currently have a propane stove but would like to replace propane with kerosene or alcohol but have found no solution we really like.  I bought an Origo single burner to experiment with and used it a while at home and found that it was just as hot as the gas stove if excellent ethanol alcohol was used.  I used Klean-Strip® Green™ Denatured Alcohol.  It is 95% ethanol and it was excellent but the fuel cost a small fortune.  I love the simplicity of the Origo, the cost of good fuel not so much.