Building A Gimbal for a Portable Stove

[Little Rascal]

I'm getting fed up of holding the kettle on the stove to make a cup of tea

So I'm going to make a simple gimballed tray. Anyone got any ideas on how to make the hinges, pan clamps etc? I'm thinking Heath Robinson.... pretty much a plywood tray with some kind of axle/bolt hinge. It should be possible to bolt the stove to the tray through it's foot pads.

The stove is one of these:

The main issues seem to be:
- Access for removal/replacement of the gas cartridge
- The failsafe on the bottom (stove has to be on a flat surface to light)
- Vertical Centre of Gravity (including pan/kettle) must be beneath the pivot.

I'd like it to be lockable?
And removable... Space is limited so moving things around inside is neccessary.

Anyone got any ideas on fittings I might use? Potential pitfalls to avoid? Safety considerations?

 

[Fantasie 19]

Just a thought - and I'm interested as I have the same set up as you - some lateral thinking.. how about a method of strapping pot/kettle to cooker??? Webbing strap perhaps???

 

[electrosys]

Space is at a premium ...
so:
1) Suggest you don't bolt it down - install instead inside a drawer-shaped container, then lift it out to change gas-cans. That way you'll save a couple of inches on the right hand side. You'll need to make a cut-out (obviously) for the control knob, and may need to drill a few holes around the base to ensure that the gas gets enough air from below.
2) If possible, install the 'drawer' inbetween structures to restrict fore and aft movement, and suspend by means of two loops of c.6mm rope at the corners, with small pulley blocks seized in the apex of the loop. Bolts through these pulley blocks will then provide the gimbal. When not in use, these ropes can then 'collapse' onto the stove, providing a minimal height for storage.

Haven't figured out a means of 'fiddling' the stove - but slots could be cut in the 'drawer's' front and rear vertical sides, allowing some kind of wands to be adjusted to loosely clamp the pot/kettle.

These stoves are very light - so you may want to attach some weights to the underside of the 'drawer' as well. Maybe.

Will give this more thought overnight. Good project.




Ahhh - you've got me going now - like a terrier with a bone ...

Long slots (3-4" long) cut along the vertical sides of the 'drawer' - with straps secured through 'em, (as per F19 above) - said straps secured to a s/s ring (say, 6" diameter - to suit kettle/ pot with lid), both sides of strap to be adjustable. No good for a frying pan, though ...

... or - 'castelate' (sp?) the tops of the drawer sides, and fit battens across. Gotta be the basis of an idea there ...

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I would be inclined to do away with the tray and fix the gimbals direct to the cooker. Like this http://service.eno-marine.fr/mod_flash/index.php?id=MzA5OA==

No problem with restricted air supply and, to change the bottle, simply turn the cooker upside down.

Probably a DIY job. A small sheet of 2mm stainless would be fine.

 

[DownWest]

Or, use some SS strip to form two triangles with the apexes high enough to pivot the shebang from near the top of the kettle or one-pot meal. Depends if there is enough room to swing. If restricted, then weights added under the cooker would counter balance the wt. of the pot.

The 6.50m transat boys just weld the pot to the top of the Camping-Gaz single burner in a gimble. Use the one pot for all heated food.

 

[electrosys]

[...] to change the bottle, simply turn the cooker upside down.

Unfortunately, there's no way of changing the bottle from underneath (I've just checked on one of mine). To change the bottle the top cover needs to fold outwards ...
... but if the 'gimbal plate' was welded to a hinge attached to the cooker, then that plate could be folded down, which would then allow the cover to fold outwards.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks for the responses so far. Some good ideas...

I'm very much open to suggestions as I haven't settled on specifics and I haven't decided exactly where to mount it in the boat yet either. I have a blank canvas really as I'm juggling a locker, potti and chart table in a tiny boat... I may have it mountable in two places even. I will take some pics at some point. I did take some measurements from the boat but lost them so I have to go down again...


The problem with directly mounting to the sides are:
1) The whole of one side is the gas cannister access flap.
2) The failsafe would need to be 'doctored' - the stove needs to be on a flat surface to work.


I like the idea of the 'drawer box' - I could at least make the stove slide out in some way... the other thing I thought of would be to make some cups or routed holes for the legs to stand on. I'm not too keen on the rope idea (rope has a very low melting point so using it would require some careful thought)

The one thing about a rigid tray with the stove bolted down is that you can then mount the pan clamps to the tray too and all is solid and stable.


Fantasy19: I think I'm going to need a gimbal anyway. The boat (Hunter Europa) is quite 'traditional' in that she has a narrow hull and high ballast ratio. So she sit's over at quite an angle of heel although she's very stiff at that angle.


I'm a little concerned about boxing in in too much. With the cannister in there too, you want as much heat to disipate as possible!

 

[William_H]

Gimballed stove

I had a similar situation with a 21fter. I had a single burner meths cooker to fit. I had a cupboard that sort of jutted out from gunwhale to keel post. (A post aft of the mast support post where the keel lifts vertically between the 2). I cut away the top surface and down the front and fitted a stainless steel sheet 4 sided box. Open at the front facing aft 2 sides and a bottom. This meant that the cooker gimballed with heel sideways. I made a post of SS at the front quite high about 4 inches above the burner for one pivot and the back surface provided the other pivot. The cooker had two vertical plates rivetted front and back to rise up to the pivots. In my case the control knob was in the middle front so I cut a curved slot for it to move in. Likewise the tube that goes out the back to tank goes through a curved slot.
It is all a question of juggling space and heel requirements. I figured I needed only a fairly small heel capability. But even this dictated that the ss box be quite wide to take the swing. I ended up adding a ss rod downwards with a lump of lead to encourage the correct swing.
The height of the support posts for the pivots dictates the space needed but also dictate just how much positive swing power for correct orientation. The vertical posts do provide a cage for the pot to sit in but it does limit the size of fry pan you can use.
In reality the cooker stays home. I only ever need cold drinks on my boat. But that is the climate and my sailing style. if I sailed in winter I would reinstate the cooker. Hot drinks and pancakes.

However if I had my "druthers" for a small boat I would have bunks each side from, front to back. For storage with cushions on them. (also buoyancy tanks )
My boat has a fairly high bridge deck to step over and a fair bit of room under the cockpit floor. I would build a slide out cooking unit containing a cooker sink storage (ice box) which would also double as a step down into the cabin. I could cook standing up with the top sliding hatch open for ventilation and head room. I would have to limit access to the cabin while cooking of course. Food could be easily passed out to the cockpit or to a folding table amid ships or even eat off the cooker box /step.

good luck olewill

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Unfortunately, there's no way of changing the bottle from underneath (I've just checked on one of mine). To change the bottle the top cover needs to fold outwards ...QUOTE]

Ahhh! I didn't realise that.

My idea could still work though.
Screw the upright onto the side and, to remove the cannister the flap and upright would both swing out together. The cooker would need to be removed from the "fixed" supports (no.20 on the link) but, if you look closely at the link I gave previously, those supports have a slot which the hob pivots (no.13 on the link) drop into. The hob can be lifted in and out at will.

FWIW the screw (no.22 on the link) is used to lock the gimbal when necessary.

I'm a little surprised that the failsafe on this cooker needs the cooker to be flat rather than the more usual failsafe which works on temperature.

 

[electrosys]

I'm a little surprised that the failsafe on this cooker needs the cooker to be flat rather than the more usual failsafe which works on temperature.

I didn't even know that they had them - will need to look at mine again.

There was a bloke on the Corromandel site (if memory serves) who installed one of these cookers in a pre-existing sliding drawer - and simply lined the drawer with one of those glass-fibre fire blankets.

But that's certainly not my idea of safety - maybe ok on an inland lake, or for when at anchor, but not when the water's lumpy.



Ok - have just checked mine again. Have got two: one is labelled "Original" (which probably means it's a copy), and the other "SunnGas SG-7000" - they're identical (except for colour).

The SunnGas box says "Safe operation with four safety devices."

But the 'how to use' leaflet only lists two: a) that the cartridge cannot be installed unless the control knob is in the Off position, and b) there is a pressure switch which prevents gas flow if the pressure in the gas canister becomes too high, such as due to over-heating.
There is a warning to use the stove on a flat surface, but nothing about a safety device or mechanism related to that.

Hope that helps.

 

[Spuddy]

I've heard of small boat chefs using springy metal cable to strap the pot down; looked to me a bit like the curtain hanging stuff but without the pvc coating

 

[Achillesheel]

I wouldn't recommend fixing the cooker in place. I had one which caught fire because the aerosol can wasn't located properly, and I was able to lob it overboard.

Yes, I know I should have checked the canister, and yes, I know picking up a burning gas stove mightn't have been the a fest option, but it seemed a good idea at the time.....

 

[Little Rascal]

There is a warning to use the stove on a flat surface, but nothing about a safety device or mechanism related to that.

Thanks electrosys. I had remembered that wrong.

I dug mine out today too - it's by Gelert.

I had thought that the little swinging tab somehow prevented it being lit, but it doesn't. The stove can be lit when held up and turned up side down still lit

Here are some (poor) pics of the access flap on mine. I would have some reservations about trusting the whole weight to the two little flap hinges.

I'd also be pretty wary of enclosing the stove, there was a saftey alert about the cannisters blowing up when the pan support was the wrong way up! So some ventilation to allow heat to escape would be a sound idea...

The spring loader also distorts the squareness of the stove slightly - enough to make it rock on a flat surface - so that may be a factor for alignment in the gimbals.

 

[Little Rascal]

A little progress with this idea...

Been down at the boat measuring up and sitting thinking

There is room for the swinging tray idea, just forward of the bulkhead, which is actually where the insert for the forepeak berth goes. This doesn't get used hardly ever. It's not that efficient use of space but I plan to make it entirely removable for the odd time someone wants to sleep forward.

The pivot point will be fixed to the bulkhead one side and have a removable frame on the forward side. According to the measurements I'll be able to make a cup of tea during a known down

The tray will have rails either side and some kind of pan clamp (wire?) will attach to them. There will be room beneath this to remove the stove to change the gas. I'm thinking the tray and sides could be ply with large ventilation holes cut in them.

 

[basil421]

It just so happens I brought my stove home tonight so I'm able to post a pic.

As you'll see it's mounted on a 3/4" board which is wider than the stove. There needs to be space at the RH end to give access to the gas canister flap and because I've got the room there's sufficient space at the LH end to place two mugs - very useful for pouring when healed.

The fiddles are stainless strip and are screwed to the sides of the stove. They are sufficiently high to prevent anything falling off. The CoG is such that even with a full kettle it swings perfectly. Nothing has ever fallen off it.

I did have a little fire one time when i lit it as the gas bottle was not correctly engaged but it was solved immediately by flipping up the gas canister engage lever. No harm was done. Now when I use it I assume it may not be properly in and push the canister home by lifting up the flap and pushing it manually. There have been no further leaks. When not in use I disengage the gas canister.

I hope this is of some help.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks Basil that's excellent! The space for cups is a great idea. And I like the fiddle idea.

How is the stove secured to the board?
And what does it swing from?

Thanks!

 

[basil421]

Ahh! I should have said. The fiddles are secured to the board and the stove is secured to them. The feet of the stove are a few milimeterers above the board. The gimbals are a pair of standard fitments which when elevated allow the assembly to swing and when lowerd allow it to be parked. They employ a sirt on bayonet arrangement.

I'm planning to be down at the boat again tomorrow so I'll try to take a picture of the support arrangement.

Let me know if you need any dimensions...

I've just been doing some searching and I think I've see an item on ebay which may be similar to my brackets. The illustration's not very distinct but it may become clearer when I've posted my pics tomorrow.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-Origo...at_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item20c1928fd0

These seem rather expensive.

I think if you didn't need to park the stove, (I never do) you could easily make up a support with a couple of vertical strips, metal or timber, with pins on which you cooker swings. It would depend on how you have to fit it in to your boat.

 

[basil421]

The first shot shows the space the stove occupies showing the supports in a mid position where it can swing a bit swing a bit

The second shows the gimbal support fully extended

The thirg shows the support parked

Hope these help.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks that's super!

I found this nice little set up on another Hunter...
Not sure how they change the gas!

 

[Poignard]

This is the arrangement I made. It allows the cooker to be slid outboard when not in use to give more worktop space.