Air tight storage container on the cheap...

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x39

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Dec 27, 1999
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Yesterday I was opening an old gallon can of paint. I had quite a bit of difficulty getting the lid off, and wound up damaging both the can and the lid beyond reuse, leaving me with the better part of a gallon of paint needing a new home. A trip to the hardware store yielded a new steel one gallon paint can for the princely sum of $1.79. It ocurred to me that it would make a very nice storage container for other items as well.
 
Paint cans would be a nice thing to use, Im sure someone else has done it by now too. Is there a coating in side of them that would be toxic if cooked in?
 
They can be filled with ammo, the lid put on and then the you can paint the lid on so that it is sealed completely. Throw a dessicant pack in it and the ammo should be good for a long time.


Or so I've heard.
SDS
 
They're usually painted inside. I don't think I'd want to boil food in them.

Nice and tight for storage, though.
 
I have sealed them with wax. Just melt some and pour it around the top. It will seal it forever. I seal my Sterno cans like this as well. I take the Sterno can and hold it upside down and at an angle and stick the edge or lip in the melted wax and turn it. I do this a few times until it is completely sealed.

If you do this with Sterno, run the can under cold water after every coat. I learned this the hard way. If you don't, the can gets warm and will pop open and scare the crap out of you as the inside gets warm.

Now you can store your Sterno forever and it will never dry out. I opened a can last year that I sealed back in the 80's and it was fine.
 
SDS said:
They can be filled with ammo, the lid put on and then the you can paint the lid on so that it is sealed completely. Throw a dessicant pack in it and the ammo should be good for a long time.


Or so I've heard.
SDS
Click to expand...

So THAT is what those are for. I always eat those little packets... MMM Chiclets!

TF
 
DutchV said:
They're usually painted inside. I don't think I'd want to boil food in them.
Click to expand...
I agree, although once the can has fulfilled its storage role, with a little ingenuity it has the potential for a nice improvised stove.
 
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