Your favourite Coffee Can.....

[3930dave]

...... and Why ?

The can that I have covering the exhaust pipe on my 3930 was looking a little rusty, so I went to put a newly emptied Tim Hortons (Canuck doughnut shop) can on to replace it.

The starting-to-rust Melitta can was made out of much heavier steel, so I left it in place. I'm liking the added weight, for staying put in the wind.

Anybody else a coffee drinker, who recycles their empties into ________________ ?

Rgds, D.

 

[MIKE R]

Don't drink coffea but friends give the foldgers cans to me. Great for part storage or soaking carbs and other small parts in. Also make good organizers for nuts and bolts.

 

[Steave]

I get good use out of Folgers/Maxwell House plastic containers. The lids fit tight and are easy to write on with a sharpie pen and they have a handle. Only thing wrong I can find is they're hard to pour out of with that little extra lip, always drips back under.

Metal cans are getting harder to find except for the smaller ones.

 

[GLyford]

The father of a friend uses soda crates used to deliver 2-liter bottles to hold his coffee cans full of nuts and bolts, one crate per thread size, one can per length. Then all the crates get stacked with the thread size label showing.

 

[Tig]

Don't know what I would do without them. I use them to sort and store all sorts of small stuff.
Also good for:
To cut out a heat shield to use when soldering plumbing.
Wrap and clamp type emergency exhaust repairs.
To keep not so dirty rags (no oily rags due to spontaneous combustion concerns)
Catch can when draining a carb or oil filter.

By the way, that little bit of coffee grounds in the bottom will sweeten the smell of a not so sweet place.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

At work they use Maxwell House. The plastic can has a built in handle. I use them for many different things including a paint can, the handel makes it easy to hold. Only problem is now Maxwell House redesigned the can without the handel now, just an indention to grip it with. I guess less plastic, more profit!

 

[Bird]

I like metal coffee cans and we buy the cheap Master Chef coffee from Walmart that comes in metal cans. However, when we open one, my wife pours the coffee into one of those plastic Maxwell House cans with a handle.

 

[/pine]

My favorite coffee can now is one I used to make a resistor to cut the voltage down on an electric fence around a garden plot...

I was having a problem with squirrels digging up seedlings and the fence controller I had was too much (voltage) for such a short line...I enjoy the squirrels so I did not want to cause them any harm...

I soldered a ground wire to the outside of the can...punched a small hole in the plastic cap and ran the + lead through the hole allowing it to dip into distilled water I filled the can with...I attached the leads to the proper lines on the fence and it worked great...lowering the voltage to a tolerable level (down from about 1500V to about 400V)...

 

[forgeblast]

Try a large bean can they seem to be stronger. I make flowers out of them and rebar.

 

[EddieWalker]

Maxwell House. Love that it has a handle and it's perfect for carrying paint in. The edge wipes off the brush better then anything else that I've ever tried. It's also very handy for mixing small batchins of thinset, mortor or grout. I've used them for draining tubs and for catching water from toilet tanks. I like to have at least two in my truck bed at all times!!!

Eddie

 

[flyerdan]

Cans are great to have around the shop for lots of things. Small cans like for tuna or mushrooms are good for sorting small parts into, and I've been known to punch a couple holes in the top sides and make a bail out of welding wire for a quick hanging drip catcher for when you pull a driveline or similar tasks.

 

[Soundguy]

yep.. i drink coffee and reuse cans.

have a folgers can on the work bench with a lil diesel and atf in it for rusty tools to be dipped into and left.

I have the large sized dog food cans covering smoke stacks. I have the 1 gallon sized bean cans with various nuts and bolt snad parts in them..e tc.

 

[radioman]

looks like I am not the only one. I save the folgers plastic cans and use it to cover the ends of pto shaft to keep rain out on my tiller.fits perfect over the plastic pto protector

 

[SSdoxie]

Exhaust on everything I have is horizontal or pointing down so no need for "rain caps" but do I have fair share of palctic coffe cans. The lid off a 3lb. Folgers works great to snap over the top of my plastic cricket bucket when fishing. Keeps the little critters from jumping out. Back when there were babies in the house I used glass baby food jars for keeping lots of small items in. Screwed the lid to bottom side of a shelf then screwed the jar on. Left them hanging in view for easy access without taking up shelf space. Lost them all when I moved and even the grandkids are walking, talking, and driving cars so now baby jars anymore.

 

[CurlyDave]

No cans for me. We get coffee beans from Costco and grind them at home.

 

[3930dave]

Dave - I grind beans when the mood suits, often from Costco as well. Like the dark roasts.

I'll have to try some of the large plastic/handled offerings - that shape does sound useful.

I built a perforated shelf in the bottom of a large metal coffee can, and use that one to drain oil filters before I drop them off for recycling.

Good uses listed here..... hadn't seen that one before /pine !

I'd be seriously challenged to give up coffee, and only slightly less so giving up the useful containers.

Coffee Pot On !

Rgds, D.

 

[Baby Grand]

For nuts, bolts, etc I use (cleaned out) clear plastic peanut butter jars. I put little shelves between the studs in the garage and have them lined up there. When I need something I just look at my wall-o-ware until I see it. Slowly getting rid of my can collection as I accumulate more jars.

 

[forgeblast]

We did the same thing in our barn. I have shelves in between the studs on one wall. I did buy a label maker at staples and have it all labeled so that I know what is where.

 

[3930dave]

For parts, I tend to prefer glass jars (no kids running around) over plastic. The plastic pbutter jars we get here are not clear, so my eyes tend to prefer glass. Pbutter jars are often a good size, with a decent screw lid, so have used 'em too.

I like metal or glass re. solvents. Modern consumer plastic packaging is pretty amazing, from a material science standpoint, and some of them will handle solvents, at least for a while. I wish I was Commander Data enough to remember which plastics I can safely pour gas into, but it is safer/faster for me to put strong solvents into glass or metal containers.

As a kid, I remember pouring gas into a styrofoam coffee cup, but just once though !

Am using a Ptouch for maintenance labels on machinery, and much liking that. As Winter drags on, I should expand that practice to my parts stash.

Rgds, D.

 

[bigtiller]

At work they use Maxwell House. The plastic can has a built in handle. I use them for many different things including a paint can, the handel makes it easy to hold. Only problem is now Maxwell House redesigned the can without the handel now, just an indention to grip it with. I guess less plastic, more profit!

That is too bad they are redesigning their can. Yep, Maxwell House cans are the best, but I can't stand there coffee. We buy it only when it is on sale and then mix it with some Folgers.