I was out in the shop today and decided to round some hood corners on my latest project and realized that yet another tradition had died. Everybody had in their shop two diameters that they used for nearly everything.. The "small coffee can" size, and the "large coffee can" size . Alas the coffee can has become a thing of the past . I accuse Starbucks gourmet coffee in one pound sacks as the "killer" RIP coffee cans ,we knew you well and you were loved by every hot rodder.
I'm with you Chaz. I was making something the other day, and a paint can was too big, and soda pop can was too small.
My buddy gave me his collection of coffee cans. Large, Small, Medium, even some soup and vegetable cans. He switched to all the clear plastic containers. His loss.
Let me add this to another traditional product loss... small gl*** bottles ... I wanted to save just a small amount of my body-color paint to us for chips,scratches,etc.....I thought I could just go to the drugstore and get a small ,coupla ounce gl*** bottle...No way ,everything nowadays is plastic...Ended up using an old gl*** bottle that aspirin came in ,that was tucked away in an old tool chest from years ago... Sometimes the march of time isn't all its cracked up to be...
Naw, they are still out there. I am a coffee crack head...... so I mix 50/50 (1/2 coffee-1/2 espresso). Kinda like exotic racing fuel This Bustelo stuff is fairly cheap and goes a long way. Plus the can is metal and about 4" in diameter. Most stores have 2-3 brands of the espresso stuff. On a side note: HATE plastic containers. 2-3 years later I pull one down and it's brittle and the bottom falls out. I have a METAL coffee can outta my Grandfather's stuff that's gotta be 60+ years old. "NICE PATINA" and still works great for holding bits. .
When I see free or mega cheap old tins and cans I grab them for bolts nuts etc. I love old junk I guess
Years ago my brother in law gave me a bunch if coffee cans full of nuts and bolts. On more than one occasion I've used one of them for corners. I always thought it was just me.
I keep a few coffee and paint cans around just for such purposes. I'm also an addict to 5 gallon pails w/covers (paint, drywall compound, etc) anything that will fit in one can be kept clean and dry and they stack nicely. I must have a hundred of them filled with parts and doo-dads on the shelves in my storage shed. A magic marker tells me what is in each one. I do keep a sheet of masonite around to make patterns for my plasma. If I will use it a lot then I make the patterns out of aluminum.
The Jalopy Journal
