anyone ever build a wooden can crusher?

[LCHIEN]

for recycling aluminum drink cans that is.

uncrushed cans take a lot of room.

I didn't want to pay $20 for a can crusher at the local hardware store - seems like it would take a lot of cans just to pay for the can crusher.

found at least two designs at the patent office but they lack exact dimensions and to boot, patented designs are not guaranteed to work. They're just ideas.

also found some plans Googling on the net.

I was wondering how well these worked if you've actually built one and whether I can make one that doesn;t mount on the wall but freestands without being huge. Do they take a lot of force?

[smorris]

One of my friends has one on his boat he made of wood. It works quite well and doesn't take all that much force. Aluminum cans are easy. Steel cans take a bit more force but if you squeeze the sides to start them buckling them it is much easier. I think he had a 1 foot dowel for the lever and it is free standing. He made it from oak as I recall.

As you said, cans take up a lot of room and it cuts down on his trips to the dumpster.

[cabinetman]

I have a mobile one I made from Maple. I call it a mallet.
.

[Mr__Bill]

All you need is a pencil!

Stand on the can, whack the side with a pencil and... vola it's crushed!


but if you really want a wooded one, check ebay, someone had some for sale there a while back.

[atgcpaul]

I didn't want to pay $20 for a can crusher at the local hardware store - seems like it would take a lot of cans just to pay for the can crusher.

HF sells 2 models for $8.

http://search.harborfreight.com/cpis...rd=can+crusher

[LinuxRandal]

Always used my foot, or a couple of concrete blocks.

One freind used to use his vise.

[jackellis]

Especially with soft drink cans, the pressure from carbonation helps keep the walls stiff. It's possible all you need is a slight cant to the bottom or the top plate of the crusher to make the walls buckle with minimal pressure.

I assume the objective is to build no matter how cheaply you could buy one.

I

[LCHIEN]

thats right, jack... what's the challenge in buying one. The plan I've started working on has a slight tilt to the top crusher plate before bearing down, this will defeat the column strength effect by bucking one wall first, minimizing the starting force to overcome the column strength.

[jackellis]

Loring, if your first name was really Rube, you'd think about a wedge coming in from the side to crumple the can wall first. Much more elaborate than the simple device of tilting the crusher plate

[LCHIEN]

elaborate is not better.

[ragswl4]

I line em up and drive over em with me truck. works every time. When we have a party I make two lines.

[DJehlik]

Can crusher

I just line the empties open-end up in a row, or any other pattern that fits the mood, and have at them with a sledge hammer held by the handle in a vertical position, and let it drop on them one at a time. It's best to do this outdoors on a surface that's easy to hose down after the fact.

[bhornberger]

Grandpa had a wooden one..

3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 8' - dropped right on top of each can as I lined them up..

[newbie2wood]

I have never built one. The one in the photo looks relatively easy to copy.
________
Depakote lawyer

[Daryl]

Looking at this Harbor Freight crusher, I wonder what Oregon, Iowa and Michigan have against crushed cans.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46406