Make 50 pop can roof tiles - PEA BB metalworking.sand.pop.tiles

Took me a while to save 50 cans, but here they are:



I made a cutting tool from a scrap of wood, a razor blade and three tacks which I cut flush underneath using a hacksaw



Here are 50 curled sheets, the tops and bottoms, the ring pulls and tools I used.



Every search I came up with for flattening the metal used a household iron on linen (highest heat) setting and 3 minutes of work. I followed along and after five minutes, there was still significant curl and the smell wasn’t good. I also didn’t want to spend two or three hours for the fifty sheets. I decided to go old school and use cast iron and my gas hob. I flattened stacks of ten, for 1 minute. It worked. Some of the paint stained the next sheet down, but a small price to pay for the savings in time and energy.

Here’s my set up with the previous stack cooling at the back:



Here are five stacks of ten sheets, each pile measuring more than the minimum required 3 by 8 inches.



Side view showing the stacks



All fifty ready for projects

What great ingenuity.  Bravo Sir, bravo.

That's outstanding! Could you describe how you used the cast iron and hob to flatten them?

Mark Brunnr wrote:That's outstanding! Could you describe how you used the cast iron and hob to flatten them?

I put the cast iron double burner over a medium / high gas heat, like I would if I was going to cook tortillas. Once it was hot, about three minutes, I then placed a stack of ten on the burner. This was a little tricky, as they’re all curled up, so I would bend them length ways against the curl, so they were kinda flat. Then I’d pin them down with the heavy caste iron pot with the lid, covering about half. They were in position, but not fully pinned. I grabbed a metal spatular, pinning them flat and then moved the pot over them fully before removing the spatular . . . Hmmm . . . I’ll take some pictures to show the steps.

Tricky bit with oven mitts wedging the end under the pot


Slide the pot half way along


Pin down with spatular


Move pot over and then pull out spatular


There maybe better ways but this worked first time for me, so I stuck with it. I tried just pinning down with the spatular but it was too tricky as there’s a lot of spring in ten sheets.

I have a pretty heavy cast iron "thing" for frying bacon flat.  I wonder if it would work as well.  It would be less cumbersome than trying to use the pan I think.

Possibly. I have a regular lodge 11 inch frying pan but the base is too big. This was the only combo of hot iron I had at hand. I suggest you check for fit when everything is cold!

Edward Norton wrote:...

Every search I came up with for flattening the metal used a household iron on linen (highest heat) setting and 3 minutes of work. I followed along and after five minutes, there was still significant curl and the smell wasn’t good. I also didn’t want to spend two or three hours for the fifty sheets. I decided to go old school and use cast iron and my gas hob. I flattened stacks of ten, for 1 minute. It worked. Some of the paint stained the next sheet down, but a small price to pay for the savings in time and energy.

...

I thought I'd heard that the aluminum can sheeting can be heat-treated in a toaster oven to return it to a soft condition that better suits writing on it with a ballpoint, for plant labeling. Anyone know about that?

Brian
-

Brian Cady wrote:

Edward Norton wrote:...

Every search I came up with for flattening the metal used a household iron on linen (highest heat) setting and 3 minutes of work. I followed along and after five minutes, there was still significant curl and the smell wasn’t good. I also didn’t want to spend two or three hours for the fifty sheets. I decided to go old school and use cast iron and my gas hob. I flattened stacks of ten, for 1 minute. It worked. Some of the paint stained the next sheet down, but a small price to pay for the savings in time and energy.

...

I thought I'd heard that the aluminum can sheeting can be heat-treated in a toaster oven to return it to a soft condition that better suits writing on it with a ballpoint, for plant labeling. Anyone know about that?

Brian
-4

Better yet, take a nail and using holes you create spell out the names of your plants.      Holes don't wash off.

I could see taking these and running them through a die press (like the one Thomas's wife, Liz is using, now), to turn these into decorative tiles. Think of the old embossed copper ceiling tiles, and use those for those roof tops, and anything else, really.

This was very time consuming, but now my mind is reeling with future projects!
I personally don’t drink anything carbonated so I collected my husbands and my brother in laws pop cans.
I used parchment paper and an iron the flatten them which took forever!!