Shredding Aluminum Cans

bobo · 03-24-2007, 04:22 PM

hello,

this might be alittle off subject for this forum,but here goes...
i am saving aluminum cans to eventually cash in at our local scarp yard. i live in NC, and there is no deposit law here. the price of aluminum, like all scrap metal goes up and down like the stock market, but still seems to hang around .65-.80 a lb. betheen all the beer i drink, and my girl friend drinking soda, and foil wrap, etc...there is alot of aluminum getting thrown out! why not get alittle back for it??? i was thinking of buying a paper shedder that is capable of shedding credit cards and cds to shred the aluminum cans. i would cut the tops and bottoms out of the can and then cut along the side and feed it into the shredder. in the long run i think this would save alot of work, instead of smashing them and then bagging them, and i would be able to fill leaf bag with MANY more cans when they are shedded! my question is; will the blades in the paper/cd shedder be able to handle the aluminum without dulling the blades????

bob

Tscarborough · 03-24-2007, 07:02 PM

Regardless of the other questions, shredding them would increase their volume, not decrease it.

bobo · 03-24-2007, 09:02 PM

tscar,

ok, yes, it would increase volume, but i really want to just make it as easy as possible to compact the cans. i plan on cutting a hole for the shredder in a piece of plywood, lay it over a large trash can lined with a leaf bag, and shred the cans, periodically compacting the shredded cans with a board or something.

bob

Nhrafan · 03-24-2007, 09:19 PM

Not to be a smart-

or anything but....

"i would cut the tops and bottoms out of the can and then cut along the side and feed it into the shredder"

Is doing all that to each and every can going to save you more work than just crushing them?

Sometimes it's best not to try and re-invent the wheel if you know what I mean.

Another note is shredded or cut alum. sheets that thin are very sharp, your typical garbage bag isn't going to hold it once it gets some weight in it.

Why not invent some kind of pneumatic crusher or somthing instead?

bobo · 03-24-2007, 10:17 PM

all critisizm welcome! im just thinking out loud, kicking around ideas. i have thought of making a can crusher, even an old, small arbor press would be suitible. i mean im not trying to be super productive, just like when im sitting on the patio drinking a cold one, i would just crush the cans as i consume them!

bob

Tscarborough · 03-24-2007, 10:18 PM

A friend has a crusher mounted on a tree off his patio. We crush them as we drink them, and he takes in 50 pounds at a time.

Nhrafan · 03-24-2007, 10:27 PM

I remember I laughed like crazy the first time I saw this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91249

bobo · 03-25-2007, 12:12 AM

tscar,

thats what im talking about! nothing fancy, just a manual hand operated press like device. i have been just stepping on them, but it involves ALOT of bending over, up and down, just isnt fun! want something that isnt much like work, but does the job, while still having a good time!

bob

Nhrafan · 03-25-2007, 12:25 AM

I'll share with you what my dad came up with.
(he's retired with much time on his hands, and a thing for recycling metal as well)
He mounted a crusher like the one tscar mentions, to the door of the workshop.
Under this he attached a piece of flexible duct large enough to fit over the bottom.
The bottom of the crusher has a hole or two drilled into it.
Then there is a funnel attached to the other end of the duct which narrows down to a piece of rubber hose.
The rubber hose runs down the door and out through a little hole in the bottom.
That way when he crushes if any liquid that was still in the can decides to come out it just runs down and out the door.
I laughed when I first saw it but I have to admit it works pretty good.

chzdanish · 03-25-2007, 10:00 AM

Sounds like shredding might be to much work. How about one of these mounted within arm's reach? http://tinyurl.com/3d3mvs

tribe_fan · 03-25-2007, 04:29 PM

check these out -

http://www.littlesqueeze.net/

http://www.bzecotourism.org/cancrusher.htm

http://www.composters.com/docs/recycling.html

bobo · 03-25-2007, 05:18 PM

hello,

thanks for the all the links folks! wow! i didnt realize there were so many different types of can crushers! i found one that i think will suit my needs just fine. it holds 6-12oz cans, crushes cans down to about 1" thick, and then ejects the crushed can, and loads the next automatically. it is a wall mount unit, and only cost about $13, and there is a retailer that has it in stock only about a 1/2 hr drive from my house! im gonna mount it in the shed, with a large trash can under it, with leaf bag in can, and crush my little heart out! now i can tell the girl friend i really do have a reason to drink, im gonna save the planet, one can at a time! lol thanks again to all!...bob

bobo · 03-28-2007, 12:27 AM

hello,

i bought the can crusher, and mounted in the shed today. works like a charm! thanks to everyone again!...bob

oldgoat · 03-28-2007, 02:26 AM

Do you have a link for the can crusher? My wife saves our pop cans for a friend and rather than have sacks of cans around maybe a crusher might help the situation.

boman47k · 03-28-2007, 11:34 AM

I have an old trash compactor. going by the color, I would say from somewhere in the 60's. Very powerful! Heheh, thought about using it to crush cans. If I had enough and knew they would get stuck i n it...
Since I seldom drink beer nowadays, not sure I want a bunch of cans collecting in it with soda in them to draw bugs, flys, bees, whatever. I have used it a few times to compact garbage with all kinds of cans. They get compacted! Okay I was playing with it. If aluminum is that high here, I might reconsider this subject.