How to extract sheets from aluminum cans?

I was looking at Edward Norton's PEA BB submission for creating sheets of aluminum from cans. I've cut cans with snips and kitchen scissors, but it's fiddly. Edward's solution seemed great, so I've been experimenting with tacking razor blades to boards. The corner of the blade pierces the can at just the right height, but when I start turning, it slips up and down, it creates a jagged edge, and it's slower than using snips. So I'm either doing it wrong or ...something?

So I started looking around and found this pretty cool tool:



And he even sells it...but only if you happen to be in Hong Kong. I'm not finding a similar tool more broadly available or specific to the US.

Do any of you upcycle cans in this way? How do you do it?

I usually just get out an old pair of scissors and cut away.  Then I use a hole punch and a string and I use it to make labels for my trees/plants.I recycle the lid and the bottom.
John S
PDX OR

Ooh - this could make twinkly bird deterrents. . . on string, blowing in the breeze.  For plant markers I use the wooden sticks from ice confections (sometimes they are used as coffee stirrers).

Wooden sticks like that in the ground get lost or become part of the soil in my experience.  An engraved/etched label on aluminum will outlive me.

JohNS
PDX OR

I've been playing with my razor-blade on a board. My first thought was to pierce the can and turn, cutting in one sweep. But after seeing that video, I've been letting the blade slice into the aluminum very lightly. I spin and spin and spin it around and wears through to a point where you can just break it out. But it isn't anywhere near has handy as that tool in Hong Kong seems to be.

I can't tell how much it costs. It's a great idea for someone who is running a small business with it.  We get 10cents for each can here.  I don't need a high volume device.
John S
PDX OR

John Suavecito wrote:  We get 10cents for each can here.  I don't need a high volume device.

Same here.  If I need thin aluminum I would go for single use pie plates or Chinese takeout trays before I'd cut up a can. Unfortunately, at the moment, the restaurants have shifted to plastic which likely mostly ends up in the landfill.

I’ve sliced out 74 sheets of aluminum so far but haven’t started figuring out how to flatten them yet.

To flatten them, you can squeeze them between 2 metal plates, and heat them up in a normal oven. 200°C is enough, if I remember well. Then let cool down in shape, it should stay that way.

You could also use two flat stones, like leftover marble pieces from a countertop, weighing them down flat. But then it requires more time to reach the temperature in the oven.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I’ve sliced out 74 sheets of aluminum so far but haven’t started figuring out how to flatten them yet.

It won't make the sheet perfectly flat, but the quickest, simplest way to uncurl it is to pull it over an edge while bending it away from the curl, as the video shows.

the 3d printing files are freely available; https://kevin-cheung.com/can-slicer/

Excellent idea thanks for sharing. Can I purchase in the U.K ?
Regards
Carol.

This video shows the what more than the how. I can attest that the art created by Senegalese artisans using aluminum cans is incredible. I saw a briefcase like the one shown, but I didn't buy it. I did buy a cool box for tea bags, and I bought a serving tray.

I never had the chance to see them cutting the cans, but I'm certain they used simple tools like scissors, snips, or razors. In the video, you briefly see the artist crimping the edges, which makes me think that they were jagged after being cut.

To flatten the cans...

I use a 2x4. Simple, easy, and already have it laying around. Lay the can 'inside out', aka like it is a can. Take one edge and start pulling it along the edge of the 2x4 applying downward pressure, like your trying to flatten out the can, err reverse the curl on the can. Have your other hand laying on top of the 2x4 to add the extra pressure so it wants to flatten out. Think in terms of how you would normally flatten something out. Do the same thing with the can. It has been a couple of years since I flattened out several hundred of them, maybe closer to thousand of them. I may have used a another piece of 2x4 instead of the hand, like I said its been a while. Naturally you want smooth edges on the can so it doesn't catch on your hand on the top 2x4.

Gotta download the video and see what the device does. I just used tin snips and got into the flow of cutting and knew which cans were the hardest and easiest to work with.

Reminds me of pipe-cutters. Biggest diameter they go up to in the UK seems to be 67mm plastic pipe, less for copper and steel. Cans seem to be more like 75mm.
You can buy replacement pipe-cutter blades, so useful for setting into a DIY jig in whatever material you're handy with.
For the amount I'd use it, I'll stick to kitchen scisssors. A neater result, with fewer sharp points, if you tackle it in the right direction, clockwise or ACW. In my case I can't remember, for a right-handed person with right-handed scissors.

I used the hot cast iron as weights process but it filled my house with noxious fumes. I’m running full exhaust fan with open windows at 1°f to get it gone. Hopefully I’m not poisoned. Anyway, I’d suggest finding a way to do this outside. But I have thirty flats now. :)