US Stove King 1851 intake control question

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I recently installed a US Stove King 1851 wood stove in my house. All is well, for the most part, but the only burn control mechanism is the damper in the flue. The damper doesn't close much, as the "locking tabs" that hold the flue onto the top of the stove interfere with its movement.

As there is no other way to control the stove--I have talked to US Stove about this, and there is not--I am wondering if anyone on this site has had any experience with limiting the air intake on a stove that offers no such provision. I.E., has anyone tried creating a dampener (of sorts) to limit how much air can get into the stove?

The intake on my stove (see attached pic) consists of three rectangular holes above the door. It wouldn't take much ingenuity to create a slider to fit behind the front of the stove with three matching holes, which could then be slid left-to-right in such a way as to limit the air intake of the stove. It wouldn't even involve modifying the stove itself in any way--no cutting, drilling, screwing, etc.

But, as I'm not much for modifying things in ways that are not recommended, I wanted to see if anyone else had any experience with this before I do something stupid.