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"Mac" sent me these images and message to post on Shop Talk:

Years ago my grandmother passed away and I ended up buying her house. My grandfather had passed away in 1978 and he had a shop closet in the basement that I've never bothered to look through. I looked through the closet and found a couple of interesting cans. The first was a metal oil can, Skelly-Ranger Motor Oil and another, Permatex Hydraulic jack oil.

Do cans have more value when full or empty? If you have a can that is dented (as you can see of the Skelly can) is there a trick to getting the dent out with the can full or do you drain the can and try to get the dent out? Or do you just leave it be as is? I guess I really don't care if the cans have value, but I really like the Skelly can and wish someone had some tips on getting dents out of cans.........





Mac,
A can with a dent in the side of the can is much less serious than one that involves the bead where the lid is applied. Your can has the more serious bead dent. It is not a high dollar can, so I'd say just turn the dent to the back of the shelf. Or drain the can and try to work the dent out from the opposite end.
The full or empty value thing has been discussed here before: http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/ubb/Forum1/HTML/003992.html

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

I can remove the bottom, push out the dents, and re-lid your can.

IF you want it full, I can re-fill with my waste /used oil before re-lidding. Sure will Pi.. your wife off when it falls off the shelf and runs out !!!! LOL

Dick

Dick,

My girlfriend does not understand this hobby, but tolerates it. I'm hoping that I can "train" her to accept my collection before I would decide to marry her. Maybe I should get a prenup with language that says she must accept my hobby? LOL

I think I'll follow Jim's advice and turn the dent to the back.

Thanks

Mac

Mac you just have to get your girl interested in her own thing.
My wife is more "obsessed" with her Pepsi cillection than I am with gas and oil. Our disagreements usually about how much shelf and wall space we each get.

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ROD [Mich.]

Rod,

My girlfriend isn't much into collecting. I've tried to help her find something that she likes to do or collect. The only thing she likes is cats, but she doesn't want to collect cat figurines....Thank God! That might be the "killer" to the relationship. I'm a dog-person and I'm deathly allergic to cats. She thinks that if I'm continually exposed to them, I'll get over my allergies. She does, at least, get out of the house on Sundays to volunteer at a cat shelter. She's always happier when she gets back from the shelter and it gets her out of my hair one day a week!

Mac

Here is a trick that works on some dents that are not too severe and are shallow. Empty the can and take an air hose with a nozzle end and stick it in the hole that drained the can. Then plug the hole up around the nozzle with a rag and blast air into the can. JUST BE CAREFULL NOT TO BLOW UP THE CAN WITH TOO MUCH PRESSURE. This will not work with the can pictured above as the dent is too severe.

[This message has been edited by keithia (edited 10-16-2004).]

I WILL MOST LIKELY BUY A CAN OF ANY SIZE IF IT HAS SIDE WALL DENTS WITH A TOP OR BOTTOM MISSING. THEN YOU CAN TAKE A SCREWDRIVER HANDLE AND PUSH OUT THE DENT. OR USE A SMALL RUBBER MALLET GOING EASY. 50% OF THE TIME IF A QUART CAN OR SMALLER HAS A DENT IN THE SIDE WALL, I SOMETIMES TRY TO PINCH THE AREAS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE DENT AND MAYNE IT WILL POP OUT....LIKE I SAID IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK...BE GENTLE.
CAN THAT HAVE BEEN DROPPED ON THE TOP OR BOTTOM ARE TOUGHER TO DO, BUT NOT COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE....JUST TAKES MORE TIME AND TWEEKING!

DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES

if it was an expensive can, i would do it dick bennett's way... i had cans "rolled" and re-lidded and they came out fine. i also use the "air tecnique" but i have made a fixture to encapsulate the can ... blew the lids off of one so.. be safe !!

Heres what I was thinking. Build a small clamp about1/4inch wide that grabs the seam, it will be attached to a bolt that goes in a slide hammer. Now position the straight portion of the bottom on a table or bench edge, and gently start pulling with the slide hammer. I think it will work but have not tried it yet. I can give some info on making the clamp easily if you need it.

Those are some very good ideas. Thanks to all that have responded. I think I'm going to turn the dent to the backside and use all of your ideas on a can that's worth straightening. With the dent to the backside, it still displays nicely. I like the red, white, and blue.

Mac

Well, I went and it was as most of you thought it would be. You would have thought I was traveling into a secret military base where they were doing research on a recently discovered alien spacecraft. I did have a couple of items I wanted to get rid of so I drove through the gates, followed the lines of pilons, and was directed to the drop off spot. I told them that I was into collecting old cans, etc and asked if they could set some of the items aside or if I could look through the cans they had taken in. The guy I spoke to was pretty nice about answering my questions. He said that since the operation was being run by the EPA through the State of Illinois, he could not allow me to poke around through the cans. He said it represented a "liability" and with rising insurance costs, they just couldn't let me do that. He apologized and said that he was also a collector of old advertising items. Oh well.....at least I tried. Next year, as was mentioned, I think I'll run an Ad about a week before they have their collection again. Maybe that'll work....

Mac

Mac, you are new at this!

What he meant was, he gets all the stuff that is worth having!!

What you should have said, even if not true, I may have some signs for sale & thermometers!

Then one of you offers the other a phone #

Then a day or 2 later suddenly some cans show up!!


You are in luck if you find a worker there that might know what to look for!!...well maybe..might work out!!