Weldability of a Soda pop Can

[Paragon]

Sheesh.. All I know is that they melt nicely with my #0 OA tip. AHve not tried welding yet. I don't see how you can get a small and cold enough flame with OA.

The bottom of the can will be the thickest part.. no clue as to how much thicker.

[SLOB]

Originally Posted by habu68

A friend that worked in my brother's shop for a while is one of the top micro welders in the country, he specializes in repairing plastic injection molds by welding and machining what are sometimes multi-million dollar molds. He regularly tig welds under a 200 power microscope. I have watched him weld pop cans together and lay a bead along the edge of a razor blade. I have watched him heat treat(aneal) a 3000 lb mold made of h13 to prepare it for welding ,do a small weld, machine and re-heat treat. The weld took less than 15min to do, machining another 2 hrs with set up. But to heat treat the mold took a week bring it up to temp and cooling so the tool did not warp. For a guy like me who can barely stick two pieces of 1/4 inch stock together with the buz box it was a humbling experience.

I used to work with a guy that specialised in microwelding. its absolutly amazing to see someone weld under a microscope. even more amazing is when its a 500lb mold thats preheated to about 600 degrees.

He later went off and started his own shop. some of his work can be seen here (New England Tool & Microweld

[Covforge]

I don't think i could keep my hand that steady.
Travis

[mcraigl]

The picture of the dew cans welded bottom to bottom... That's a completely different beast than cutting one in half then welding it together. I tig'd aluminum for a few years proffesionally, but all my Al was between .100 and .250 thick. I'm sure there's guys out there that can do it, and I'd love to watch them do it. Never heard of "Micro-welding" as a specialty. That sounds pretty cool to me.

[habu68]

Slob,

Just about the time you think you know something about some thing, you see someone that does that kind of work and you realize you don't know noth'n.

[Joe H]

Welding two cans together like that isn't too hard. Cutting a can in half and welding it back together is a whole different story. First you have to cut the can in half and get it clean inside and out without deforming it. A perfect fitup is mandatory for welding thin materials like that.

My machine will not drop low enough in amperage, maybe 2-4 amps. If I get a chance at work monday I'll see what I can do. (probably make a mess)

BTW, it definately CAN be done. I've seen aluminum foil welded together before.

[habu68]

Fun with cans: remove the top of pop can inside the lip and cut the bottom off about 3/4s the way down. If you toss the can like a foot ball with a spin with the top as the leading edge it will fly like a Frisbee.

[petersenj20]

Originally Posted by habu68

Fun with cans: remove the top of pop can inside the lip and cut the bottom off about 3/4s the way down. If you toss the can like a foot ball with a spin with the top as the leading edge it will fly like a Frisbee.

You can do that with a roll of tape too.

[Hillbillysmith]

After seeing all of the pics of the welds that everyone had put up on here, I tried to weld a pop can the other day at school. Well, I did it!! I not only welded a bead on the bottom edge, I welded a bead on the side material as well. I blew a couple of small holes in it, but this is the first ever piece of aluminum that I have ever welded before. No practice, just I just went for it. Not bad for a first aluminum weld, if I do say so myself.
Here's a couple of pics:





What does everyone think? The next time I get to TIG weld, I'm going to weld two can together and, if successful, I'm going to try aluminum foil. When i finish, I'll post pics.

[Glenn]

Originally Posted by Hillbillysmith

Has anyone ever welded a Soda Pop can together??

Just 18 posts and 20 days later he was able to just that !!

Thank you to all those that make IForgeIron such a wonderful resource, and take the time to encourage others.