Im looking for help putting a value to this cool can i have come across.Any help would be much appreciated
I know it's in pretty rough shape on the one side and the can is fairly squished but from what i know its super rare to find...
What a shame. A very rare tin in very bad shape. I would open it up and straighten it as best you could. Then in my opinion it might be worth a couple hundred.
How do u open it up? Like from the cap? I think i will keep it as is but yes it is pretty beat up. So only a cpl hundred eh
I'd agree with the couple hundred estimate above, the condition is just too far gone for many collectors. But who knows, throw it on eBay (if you're selling it) and you may get a bidding war
Highly sought after can that pre-dates 1918, although it certainly has condition issues. Hard to give an exact value of a can like this given it's condition, but in todays crazy marketplace who knows. I can see 2 people at auction paying north of $200 just to own one.
Might make it kinda rounded but I have blown out dents with compressed air...
I think ill try the compressed air idea. I also use metal rescue from time to time with some pretty good rust removal results.Thanks Everyone
Low pressure
too much (bang)
I would used Water
Much safer
Sid
Might be worth making a box somehow so the sides and bottom cant go past the desired point.
If the can is air tight set it in a large pan of water on the stove and slowly heat the water. As the air inside gets hot it expands and pops the dents out. The slower you heat it the more control of the rate of expansion.
This was a school science experiment. When the can was hot we loosened the cap to let the hot air out and retightened the cap then as it cooled the can sucked in and crushed, set it back in the hot water and watched it pop back out. I'd try it on a junk can first. Disclaimer....I'm not saying how safe this is, you know back in the sixties it didn't seem like we worried about such things as much...lol
Tom.
Compressed air is a bad idea because there is too much lack of control. Once you go too far and ruin the can, you can't go back! I'm speaking from experience here!
Tom's idea is much better.
I have fixed snowmobile pipes that had dents in them by filling them with water and then freezing. Not sure if it would work on an oil can though, never tried.
The method described by Tom is a fairly well controlled experiment,if the sealed vessel is dry. The temperature inside the vessel is limited by the boiling point of water. So as long as there is water in the pot, the temperature will not exceed 100C. Based on this, the max pressure (differential) that can be reached inside the can is about 3.5 psi above room pressure. (But if there's any liquid inside the can, it would get a lot higher.)
The problem is the rupture strength of the can in question. 3.5 psi is actually a pretty large internal pressure differential for a thin sheet metal can with a rectangular geometry. To put this in perspective, if a can wall is something like 9" x 7", the force exerted on it would be over 200 lbs, equally distributed. Add in the age, rust and the dent-induced stresses on the metal and you have a good chance for catastrophic failure if you seal the can tightly.
Add in the age, rust and the dent-induced stresses on the metal and you have a good chance for catastrophic failure if you seal the can tightly.
Sounds like an experiment to do at your buddy's place...carefully...good luck
Thanks Everyone...I'm not sure what i'll do. Maby I will just keep it as is. The can doesn't hold air and is pretty bent..
unsolder the bottom, get in there with a hammer and dolly (make sure outside paint is protected) and solder back together