Spray Can Cutter
© Frank Ford 2008; Photos by FF

What with spray paint, spray lube and WD-40, I do generate a few empty spray cans.  Recyclers tell me I can not recycle these cans nor stick them in the trash because they are "hazardous" and must be delivered to the proper HAZMAT disposal site.  Now, it's not just the contents, but the fact that these residual contents are under pressure.  So I asked whether they could be recycled if they were both empty and decapitated. "No problem," was the answer.

Clearly I needed a spray can guillotine.  Here's what I came up with -

I had a short section of I-beam that had been cut in half along the web, so I cut out about half of the remaining web, cut and bored a big hole, and made a blade out of the piece of the web by welding it edgewise to a piece of  1/4" x 1" cold rolled steel:

I added a pivot bolt and another hole for hanging.

I simply clamp the remaining piece of web in the bench vise and I'm good to go:

In goes the empty can:

And I swing the lever, puncturing it.  Of course a tiny bit of gas remains so there's a slight hiss as the blade pierces the side:

Nice and easy, the blade simply slices off the top of the can:

Ready for Recycling now.