Bicycle Mechanics - Wash and save those cat food tins!

Or if you have a small dog the small dogfood tins. Tunafish tins too.

These low profile tins make great little containers for washing small parts or keeping small loose parts in one place while working on your bikes.

Yes the idea seems self evident but if you hadn't thought of it then "you're welcome".

And for those of you that don't have a small pet check on the folks at work. I'll bet there's a handy supply available for the asking.

I just thought of posting this as I washed another out after feeding the feline.

Cat foot tins eh. Interesting

I prefer using my lucky rabbit's foot tins.

That's right cat FOOT tins. The little devil has been running around with food tins on his paws and clanging up a real cat'aphony around the place. I'm just about deaf and been driven nutz all at the same time. He put up quite the fight but I finally got them from him.


Oh, boy.... we're in for a ride thanks to my lousy typing now.... :D

I bought a couple of those magnetic bowls years and have gotten a lot of use out of them. Whatever you're working on, they're awesome at keeping track of small hardware.

Az

I use mine for making cooking stoves when I'm touring.

Or if you have a small dog the small dogfood tins. Tunafish tins too.

These low profile tins make great little containers for washing small parts or keeping small loose parts in one place while working on your bikes.

Yes the idea seems self evident but if you hadn't thought of it then "you're welcome".

And for those of you that don't have a small pet check on the folks at work. I'll bet there's a handy supply available for the asking.

I just thought of posting this as I washed another out after feeding the feline.

I use these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=659

of course the magnet is useless on anything non ferrous, but the tray works great.

and you don't have to wash the cat food residue out first,....I have two kitties and they need enough chores done already. :p

I use mine for making cooking stoves when I'm touring.

The tins or the cats?



And I sure hear ya about the "chores" Joe....

I'm keeping a 1/2 dozen or so mostly for small solvent washing duties more than for parts holding. That way when they get too grungy it's into the trash.

For little parts and bearings and such I like those magnetic plates and dishes. Oddly I don't even own any though...

muffin tins

I was actually thinking of putting pieces of cats into bike components boxes.

For little parts and bearings and such I like those magnetic plates and dishes. Oddly I don't even own any though...

Note that a magnet will stay on the bottom of a can. Just pull the magnets out of some old speakers, set the can on one, and you're done.

I only recently saw this but some people use baby food jars with screw on lids. The lids are fixed on something up high (top of shelf, etc) but to the bottom of the shelf. Then the jar screws on underneath. You can see what's it in, it doesn't get dusty, things don't fall into it.

Only thing is if the shelf/beam with the jars falls over, you have broken glass and a huge mess of mixed small parts to organize. Or an errant spring goes flying, same thing. Maybe a bathroom vanity size cupboard would be good - you can put in 30-40 jars, it has a door, etc etc.

Since I have no house to put a shelf in, it's a moot point for me. But I'll consider it when I have one.

Also, even if you don't have babies, baby food makes for excellent emergency pre-race food. 30-40g of carbs (sugar I guess), easily digested, quickly eaten (you can do shots of baby food a few minutes before a race), and relatively easy to find (any 24 hour grocery/pharmacy store should have some baby supplies). Get the biggest ones if you want to use them for storing nuts and bolts.

cdr

Cat foot tins eh. Interesting

I found it interesting as well, until I fixed it for him.:D

BTW, to the Original Poster, you can use the report this post button or pm anyone with a blue star, to get thread titles changed/fixed.

I only recently saw this but some people use baby food jars with screw on lids. The lids are fixed on something up high (top of shelf, etc) but to the bottom of the shelf. Then the jar screws on underneath. You can see what's it in, it doesn't get dusty, things don't fall into it.

Only thing is if the shelf/beam with the jars falls over, you have broken glass and a huge mess of mixed small parts to organize. Or an errant spring goes flying, same thing. Maybe a bathroom vanity size cupboard would be good - you can put in 30-40 jars, it has a door, etc etc.

Since I have no house to put a shelf in, it's a moot point for me. But I'll consider it when I have one.

Also, even if you don't have babies, baby food makes for excellent emergency pre-race food. 30-40g of carbs (sugar I guess), easily digested, quickly eaten (you can do shots of baby food a few minutes before a race), and relatively easy to find (any 24 hour grocery/pharmacy store should have some baby supplies). Get the biggest ones if you want to use them for storing nuts and bolts.

cdr

Yeah, my grandpa had a bunch of baby food jars set up this way, as well as the 1-pint Mason jars.

Also, a lot of the metal one-gallon cans (mineral spirits or whatever), laying on their sides, with the other side cut off. These made drawers in a huge "chest of drawers" he had in his shop. They already have the handle for a pull, and work great. Of course, I think they moved through a lot more of those cans on the farm, post war. I probably use one every two years, so it would take a looooong time to get enough :)

I have a tackle box that works nicely for small quantities of small parts as well -- but don't tip it over.

My dad organizes small parts in a cool set of small plastic jars made for fish hooks.
The top and bottom of each jar is threadded, so you can attach a stack of the jars
together.

I have a tackle box that works nicely for small quantities of small parts as well -- but don't tip it over.

Maybe you need to get a box that is comparmentalized better. Plano makes tons of them. Look in the tackle section of any sporting goods store.

Maybe you need to get a box that is comparmentalized better. Plano makes tons of them. Look in the tackle section of any sporting goods store.

Plano rules

Maybe you need to get a box that is comparmentalized better. Plano makes tons of them. Look in the tackle section of any sporting goods store.

No, see the trick is to use stuff you already have! This is my tackle box from when I was 10 ;)

No, see the trick is to use stuff you already have! This is my tackle box from when I was 10 ;)

Then fill it with hooks and bobbers and take a kid fishing. :D

Thanks for the fix jsharr. It may not have quite the confusion intrest draw but at least folks will know what the topic is now... :D

I guess I should have stressed the use of them for more as disposable solvent washing dishes rather than even suggesting storage. Around my own shop I'm always dribbling a bit of solvent into a dish to wash parts out. For reallly small things like a set of wheel bearing balls something like a small cat food tin makes a lot more sense than using a bigger dish and more solvent.

Oh, and I try to re-use my solvent until it's pretty much mud. Pour it into a mason style pickle jar (also recycled) and the grunge will settle out nicely after a couple of days and you can decant off the upper tinted but clear and very usable stuff for many more uses.

Hmm, yeah glass in a shop never seems to last long. I use the plastic peanut butter jars with the screw lids. Hot water and soap gets rid of the peanut butter reside nicely and I just use a touch of WD-40 or gum-ff to get rid of the label......cheap, shatterproof, and comes in assorted sizes. Take a piece of cardboard, write the part name, pertinent info, sku, and price in sharpie ink and throw it inside the jar. We even use the large sizes to store spent fork fluid, brake fliud, etc. until we have a large enough amount to dispose of properly.

Cat food tins have sharp edges on the inside, a flat bottom making it hard to fish small parts out without dropping the part or spilling the entire contents and arent large enough (or magnetic) to catch bearings when disassembling a hub...

No thanks, I'll stick with a magnetic parts tray for under $4. (http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=WLMW1264&source=froogle&kw=WLMW1264)

When I wrench at home, I have an old pot, and an old strainer that I use. I boil the parts in water to dissolve old grease then place a paper towel or coffee filter in the strainer and pour the hot water and parts into that. The filter catches the grease and stuff and is thrown away after.

When I wrench at home, I have an old pot, and an old strainer that I use. I boil the parts in water to dissolve old grease then place a paper towel or coffee filter in the strainer and pour the hot water and parts into that. The filter catches the grease and stuff and is thrown away after.

Maybe you can make tea that way and it will be strong enough for you to give up the coffee.

Note that a magnet will stay on the bottom of a can. Just pull the magnets out of some old speakers, set the can on one, and you're done.
Old computer hard drive magnets are much easier to salvage than speaker magnets. There also much stronger and very hard to pry off an old can when your ready to replace it with a fresh can.

You know, I bet some neodymium magnets stuck to the can would be awesome. I bet I can even get the can to stick to my work stand with them.

I found it interesting as well, until I fixed it for him.:D

BTW, to the Original Poster, you can use the report this post button or pm anyone with a blue star, to get thread titles changed/fixed.

You are such a wet blanket jsharr :)

You are such a wet blanket jsharr :)

valid point

[quote=Wordbiker

No thanks, I'll stick with a magnetic parts tray for under $4. (http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=WLMW1264&source=froogle&kw=WLMW1264)[/quote]

The biggest downside of using a magnetic parts tray is that the stuff placed in it can end up with residual magnetism. Can be annoying, especially when they pick up a bunch of fuzzy metal slivers. In my machine shop I have a de-magnetizer so I can eliminate the problem . . . but I prefer muffin tins myself.

Mods have the tolerance and patience of Job.....

Of course who knows how long his finger paused over the BAN button before he sighed in resignation and posted that reply. Who knows how close you came to darkness and damnation. Dooomed to burn in the fires of internal combustion bereft of all that is bicycling on the web! ! ! !

I know your internal pain Jsharr, I'm a moderator on a couple of forums not bicycle related. We have a very heavy cross to bear my friend.....




Is that schmaltzy enough? Can we go back to having fun now? :D

Go over to foo, where I hang out, and you will see that I am far from a wet blanket. Schmaltz, is that like Schlitz Malt Liquor?

I do like the idea of using old cans though for washing parts. May have to dig into the recycling bin next time.

Does Wolf brand chili hurt bike parts?

Note that a magnet will stay on the bottom of a can. Just pull the magnets out of some old speakers, set the can on one, and you're done.

That's brilliant! I've got some blown car stereo speakers in the garage.

muffin tins

until you accidentally step on the edge and the entire contents get launched across your garage, yard, driveway etc,...:p


Schmaltz, is that like Schlitz Malt Liquor?

SCHMALTZ: yiddish (jewish) for rendered chicken fat,...it's used like a cooking oil and flavoring agent in jewish foods, like chopped liver and gefilte fish.

it's also used as slang for "fake extravagance".

What's foo? Like a Mr T "foo" from the old A team show? Of course up here we all knew it as the Eh Team..... :D

And the chili will only harm the parts if it makes contact with actual reactive metal. But with suitable HAZMAT procedures it should be relatively practical to cleanse the chili tins sufficiently well to avoid seeing your Campy parts dissolve in a froth of bubbles topped by a brilliant flash and a 20 foot mushroom cloud......

If any of you elect to try making a magnetic tray using hard drive magnets be careful with them when there are two in close proximity.

I was showing a guy how one of them on top of your hand and one in your palm moving around would make them follow like ghost movements. He wanted a couple to use for finding wall studs and I strongly urged him to only take one. Nope, he wanted two. In less than 15 minutes he was back to return one and had a nice bleeding pinch in the thumb to forefinger web from demonstrating how strong the magnets were and accidentally swiped the lower one off via the webbing. Once the bite there's no way short of the Jaws Of Life to get them apart and avoid serious damage to yourself. The person watching was no help at all as they were laughing far too hard to function and pry the magnets apart. In a fit of pain he just ripped them away and then the bleeding started.

So be careful out there kids. Magnets are NOT your friends.... :D

The Altoids Sours tins are my favorite for organizing bits and pieces. I like the slip-off lid and more positive closure as opposed to the hinged one on the mint types.