Coffee Can Storage Containers

[C. John Hebert]

Next time you buy coffee..........get the 1lb cans rather than the 1.00 cheaper soft packs. If you buy 2lb cans, get 2 1lb cans. Cut the inner lid off, and keep the plastic cap. They are the handiest containers in a shop for cleaning brushes, using smaller anounts of brush on finishes, cleaning gun parts and just letting them soak over night.

I remember my uncle using the one lb coffee cans to put nails or screws in them, then take a hot glue gun and glue one on the cap of it's cotents, so this way you don't have to open lids to see what's in them.
That extra buich spending for the metal container is cheap! cause there is no other container that cheap with a lid, other than canning jars that break

[Rich in MA]

I had litterally trash bags full of those 1 LB'ers from my parrents.  At this point I have very few left.  Used 'em just like you say.  We don't drink tea so they are like dinosaurs at my house.

[G.Earl]

Best part is storage, the cans are perfect for all your hardware and small parts. I paint then and use a marker to label what's in each can.

[Steve Clardy]

I have a large drawer in some wall cabinets that I keep 3# coffee cans in, full of the various screws I use daily.

Its getting tough to actually find metal coffee cans anymore. in the stores.
So many of them are plastic.

[C. John Hebert]

Best part is storage, the cans are perfect for all your hardware and small parts. I paint then and use a marker to label what's in each can.

Man.........that is sooooooooooooooooo slick!

[C. John Hebert]

I have a large drawer in some wall cabinets that I keep 3# coffee cans in, full of the various screws I use daily.

Its getting tough to actually find metal coffee cans anymore. in the stores.
So many of them are plastic.

Maxwell coffee has em that way. The wife goes nuts cause it's an extra buck.........but tough, I rule!

[Steve Clardy]

I have a large drawer in some wall cabinets that I keep 3# coffee cans in, full of the various screws I use daily.

Its getting tough to actually find metal coffee cans anymore. in the stores.
So many of them are plastic.

Maxwell coffee has em that way. The wife goes nuts cause it's an extra buck.........but tough, I rule!

Yea. We usually buy folgers, but very seldom find it in metal cans anymore.
So we have been buying some offbrand stuff just to get metal.
Some of this offbrand, cheap 4.00 coffee is terrible tasting

[Jason Decheck]

If you can't find the metal coffee cans and you know someone who has had a baby recently, ask them to save the cans the formula comes in.  About the same size.  I saved as many as I could when our kids were still on formula.  I have a pile in the shop waiting to be used.

[Dave Heinlein]

I have a large drawer in some wall cabinets that I keep 3# coffee cans in, full of the various screws I use daily.

Its getting tough to actually find metal coffee cans anymore. in the stores.
So many of them are plastic.

Maxwell coffee has em that way. The wife goes nuts cause it's an extra buck.........but tough, I rule!

Check your allowance next time. It might be a dollar short.

[Jerry in Michigan]

Great tip, CJ.  We get the plastic 'cause we do Folgers and they come in very handy for cleaning up or soaking things.

[Dick James]

Once again,I'm in the minority.  I like the plastic coffe containers better for storing things in.The top stays snapped on tight.For staining and cleaning the occasional brush,I use the plastic containers in various sizes that frozen entrees (lasagna,mac&chesse etc) come in.Hey,the wife is busy and doesn't always have time to whip up a gourmet meal.  Different strokes for different folks.

[John C. in Michigan]

cottage cheese containers.

I've never found anything handier to have around the shop than plenty of cottage cheese containers.

Right now I've got a stack about four feet tall and a box full of lids. Today I was tearing out some wheel bearings and it was so nice to just go in, grab a container, dump all the greasy parts in and take them to town for new ones. Came home and installed the new stuff and now I can either clean the old parts right in the container or toss it all out, container and all.

Oh! and the bonus is, you get cottage cheese in every one of 'em.   

J.C.

[George, Oxford, NC]

We use butter in the small tubs and I must have a couple of hundred in the shop.  For mixing small amounts of stain, for mixing small amounts of wipe on poly (50/50).  I use the tops for a glue pallette, after drying the glue skim just flakes off so they are reuseable.  Many many uses.

George

[Leroy in Kansas]

The little sq. Gerber baby food containers with the snap on lid are clear, sealable and just the right size to stack on the shelf. Leroy

[Tokyo Stu Ablett]

MJB still comes in the Green can, and the Costco brand, their Columbian coffee is great, and comes in a large can! 

The other thing I use, besides the butter tubs, and other assorted containers, is the Pringles potato chip cans, they are perfect for a brush overnight, they are tall and thin, and you use way less paint thinner!

They don't last long, over night is fine, but not a week.

Great tips CJ! 

[dizzy]

man WHEN was the last time you bought coffee like 1978?

FYI: Coffee no longer comes in tin cans any more, they come in them stupid plastic containers that fill up the landfills and further drive up the price of oil.    Now they are doing the same thing with paint buckets!

I use an old 2qt thick aluminum cooking pot to clean my guns in.  It is avocado green on the outside so if that tells you how old it is. It is bigger in diameter than a coffee can and shallower so it works better.

 

[Michael in AZ]

MJB still comes in the Green can, and the Costco brand, their Columbian coffee is great, and comes in a large can!

Love that Costco Kirkland brand coffee in a metal can

[Alan in Little Washington (NC)]

We don't do coffee, but the wife goes through a jar (plastic) of peanut butter ever few weeks.  I keep all my screws, fasteners, etc. in them.  They don't rust, you can easily see what is inside (after peeling the lable off), and they don't break.

[Bill D.]

I pick up the thrown away plastic oil cans at the car parts store.  bandsw off the top and they are good for storing small nails etc.  I take off the lid and drain them standing on a 2x4 with a nail sticking out overnight before sawing.
Bill D.

[bubbabear]

I also love to use the EDY's dibs ice cream containers and they have real good snap lids.   

[Jace Weber]

I also love to use the EDY's dibs ice cream containers and they have real good snap lids.   

Welcome to The Wood Works BB!

[Art in Linden]

I'm with Alan, My wife saves all Plastic jars with lids.  And I get alot of plastic containers from the Kitchen at our Lions club, when I cook there.

You can see what is inside so no labeling and although they break if you drop them, no sharp glass splinters on the floor.

Art

[kleinjahr]

If you have a lot you can set them up as a rack so that they are angled. Set them upright on a piece of ply or board and nail them through the bottom. Now make a triangular frame or brace, 60 degrees is about right whatever you prefer, and attach the ply/board to it.  The angle they sit at prevents parts from falling out, a small hole drilled through the bottom of the cans and the backer will allow for drainage of any moisture.  If organised and labelled it also makes it easier to see what you are short of.
 For jars, wire the lids to the rim of an old bicycle wheel so that you can still screw the jars on them. Then hang the wheel so it is horizontal at a convenient height. Voila!, lazy susan parts organiser.