Talk:Steel and tin cans

A fact from Steel and tin cans appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 March 2004. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that most "tin cans" are actually made of steel?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2004/March.

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This article was nominated for merging with Tin box on 7 October 2013. The result of the discussion (permanent link) was not merged.

Ribbed Design?

Virtually all tin cans have ridges or grooves on the side of the can. What is the purpose of this? If someone can find out and incorporate it, that would be great.--160.39.213.168 00:19, 20 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think that the purpose is to strengthen the can walls against buckling. This is roughly analogous to the flanges on I-beams: while the beam's web (central part) supports the load in the vertical plane, the flanges keep the beam from buckling in the horizontal plane due to any lateral forces.

---------------

| FLANGE |

----- -----

| |

| W |

| E |

| B |

| |

----- -----

| FLANGE |

---------------

— ¾-10 21:24, 28 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Role of Tin

Tin isn't used on steel in tin cans to prevent corrosion. Tin is used as a lubricant on steel to prevent ripping during the forming process. Corrosion is prevented through the application of specially formulated polymeric lacquers that are applied in one or two coats dependant on substrate to be coated and product to be stored and protected. [Per history, added by IP 14:02, 2004 Mar 6 83.112.11.173 ]

Important to the article if true; anyone got a source to back up this anon tip? (I am skeptical of the idea that that is the full story rather than at most a side issue, since dented tin cans, IIRC, can have the inner tin coating cracked, leading to corrosion of the steel and people getting sick. --Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

Materials

The section on Materials is very unclear. This question arises: Were tin cans EVER made "primarily or wholly" out of tin? If so, during what era? The sentence that uses the term "second half of the 20th century" is a grammatical train crash. When, exactly, did tinplate steel come into use? Around the mid 20th century..after the mid 20th century? The next sentence talks about aluminum coming into use in 1960... hmmm, that sounds like the "mid 20th century" too!.. or is it "the second half of the 20th century"? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!

1) Get rid of "THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20th CENTURY" terminology. 2) Get the dates straight. 3) Write a couple of barely-intelligible sentences in English, so a grammar expert can later fix them. I'm not a grammar expert, but I will do my best to smooth out any rough spots until a grammarian becomes available. 71.135.13.69 (talk) 20:30, 27 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Tin Cannikin?

I doubt it, but is the name "tin can" derived from or a shorterned version of "tin cannikin"? I assume the can stands for "canister". Treasure Island: "...[Long John Silver] drew some cognac from the cask into a tin cannikin..." --Joshtek 21:41, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Doesn't look good at first: in the Collegiate, we have "cannikin ... : a small can or drinking vessel" probably from a Danish diminutive for "can" vs. "can ...: a usu. cylindrical receptacle: ... a vessel for holding liquids: specif.: a drinking vessel" with no mention of Danish in the etymology. And "tin can...: a can made of tinplate" w/o etymology.

From the context as far as given, it sounds more like a mug than a hip-flask (which would fit better with storage), and bear in mind that the book is set in a time when people thot that eating off of lead-tin alloy was a good idea; "tin" probably means solid pure or alloyed metal, rather than "tin plated", steel being something that i think was then mostly reserved for edged weapons.

Can someone with OED handy comment?

--Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

Photo

The lighting is too dark, making it useless at illustrating the pull-top. --Jerzy (t) 17:45, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

History

I removed from Can opener the following (re cans):

invented in 1810 by Peter Durand in Britain

as later and less documented in WP than the Frenchman. But no doubt his contribution was important and should be described on this talk page's article.
--Jerzy (t) 19:42, 2005 May 4 (UTC)

The history ought to be expanded in this article, or a clear link given to a main article on the history of tinning. Njál 19:41, 21 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Steal Can Double Seam

Here's an attempt at a sketch:

Double Seam

 _________
|  ____   |
| |    |  |                                                       etc., symmetrically
| | |  |  |                   Can Cover                           |
|___|  |  |_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___|
       | 
       |
       | Can Body
       |

Double Seam —

   n.  A hermetic seal or seam formed by interlocking the edges (flanges) of both the cover (lid or end) and body of a can.
   v.  To attach a cover to a can body by a method in which five (5) thicknesses of plate are interlocked or folded and pressed firmly together. (See Double Seam Formation, 1.010)

[1]

The History section is weak. It does not answer the simple question of whether any liners were used or not during WWII, for example, when millions of cans were produced and used, both for military and non-military use. BPA and modern coatings were not around. So, were they just plain tin-coated steel? Or, was something else used inside back then?Starhistory22 (talk) 02:00, 27 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

hide stuff in can

Special cans can be used as a concealment device. It looks like an ordinary can with hairspray or food in it, but you can hide secret things in it like money or keys. :D

"products like engine oil..."

Maybe it's just a regional thing, but I've spent time in 3 continents, and I've never seen engine oil sold in a cardboard can. Axle grease, sure, but engine oil??? Sounds messy. Can anyone confirm this, or think of a more likely non-food product to be sold in such a can? - Blueguy 65.0.212.9 (talk) 04:27, 10 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You may have "spent time on 3 continents", but if you were born after 1980, or so, there's no reason you would ever have seen motor oil sold in cardboard cans with metal lids. Over a very short period they were replaced by the now-ubiquitous plastic bottles. For proof, see the undated photo at File:Motor_Oils.jpg, taken in a store in Kuwait. At one time there were special can-piercing spouts for such cans, too, a common fixture in service stations and garages. The article is currently incorrect, though, in stating that motor oil was sold in cans with pre-scored, tear-off tops: That would have defeated the purpose of the can-piercing pour spouts. The lids were always solid and the cylindrical walls were made of cardboard, usually with an aluminum foil or plastic liner to keep the oil from seeping through the paper. There's a scene in the 1979 movie, The Jerk, starring Steve Martin, where cardboard oil cans are seen stacked up in a filling station, so they were still in use then, but they disappeared fairly quickly in the 1980s. — Quicksilver^{T @} 04:59, 2 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

safety concerns of cans

Theres not a whole lot of information about safety. It doesnt verify or debunk that any aluminum can be absorbed into the body. It doesn't even mention that many cans like these, especially when manufactured out of the usa, have a lead content in them that can leech into food. Someone should write about this and find some references to support that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.160.131.17 (talk) 18:46, 27 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

zinc plated/galvanized steel

I have noticed that canned pineapple usually comes in zinc plated cans (there's the classic 'metal flower' pattern on the inside, and NO plastic liner). Can someone confirm this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.165.34.114 (talk) 15:50, 9 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Material

The article states tins are made from aluminium. In the UK most tins (i.e. tins of baked beans) are magnetic, so what are they made from? I always thought they were steel. A beer tin is often aluminium. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.24.50.110 (talk) 07:39, 16 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Weight of a can hasn't been given

The article mentions 400g cans but that's referring to the contents. What's the weight of metal in an empty standard size tin can? It's the one datum that I came here to find out. ;o) 2.98.246.86 (talk) 13:10, 3 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Whimmy wham wham wozzle! InedibleHulk (talk) 11:21, 7 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Metal Thickness

There is no information about the thickness of the sheet metal used in cans in the article at this time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.189.135.20 (talk) 11:56, 28 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed. Anyone knows how thick?

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

Nescafé tin Sensationell.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:37, 2 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Is steel the most recycled?

It could paper as well which is very recycled as well. 2A01:E34:EC12:36C0:240F:2BEA:9D03:C4E4 (talk) 17:26, 16 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Comparison points should be given, with other materials. 2A01:E34:EC12:36C0:240F:2BEA:9D03:C4E4 (talk) 17:30, 16 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Possible splitting of page.

To make this topic more encyclopedic, we should split this page between tin cans and steel cans. Most people that will use this page only really want information about one of the two, and it would be more convenient to find the information readers are looking for with separate articles. This article has been rated B-class, and it would be much easier to improve this topic if the two are separate. VMDraper (talk) 16:33, 13 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Terminology section? Improved disambiguation?

The article faces a simple-to-formulate (but hard-to-resolve) problem: the vernacular "tin can" can mean pretty much any metal can. We deal with it in two ways: through a disambiguation Metal can and through mildly confusing sentences in the lead of this article:

"Steel cans were traditionally made of tinplate" (very old iron cans were produced, too)
"Modern cans are often made from steel lined with transparent films made from assorted plastics, instead of tin" (the article is about "Steel and tin cans")
"Some are made from aluminum" - ditto

The article tries to reconcile it later: Metal cans are still (inaccurately) widely called "tin cans"; in some dialects, even aluminium cans are called "tin cans"

My proposals:

Add a {{redirect}} hatnote that "tin can" redirects here and mention the Metal can (disambiguation)
Combine and move the information about the generic vernacular use very close to the beginning of the lead

Викидим (talk) 18:12, 2 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This article is about steel cans, including tinplated steel. In some regions, these are sometimes called "tins". There is a separate article about Aluminum cans and an article about drink cans (mostly aluminum), Please do not confuse these. Pkgx (talk) 13:46, 4 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately, there is more confusion with the terminology. It is easy to find references, for example, to "aluminum tin cans". Викидим (talk) 16:52, 4 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A better ay to clarify this confusion is to title the article "Steel Cans" discussing the vernacular in some regions to include "tin cans". That is a clean break and allows for people to use their regional variants. The separate article on Aluminum cans" remains as does "drink cans. this would improve reading of the articles. Pkgx (talk) 19:44, 4 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Steel and iron are very difficult to be rolled into so thin a layer to make cans, so early cans were definitely all made using tin

To be rollling steel or iron into such thin layers to be used in cans, is a technological marvel that didn’t occur till much later, like after World War II, so early cans were definitely all made of tin. 2601:647:6881:2060:C9A5:90DE:3BF:37EA (talk) 14:15, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]