Gotta Love those Altoids Boxes (and how to make them better)

[rgsparber]

I use Altoids boxes for all kinds of projects plus as storage for fasteners. Most of these boxes have an embossed top that makes gluing a label on difficult. The solution is very simple - put the top on a smooth block of steel. Then place another smooth block of steel over the embossed areas. A few blows with a heavy hammer and the top is almost completely flat. The more the top has been embossed, the more the metal has been stretched. This can cause the flattend top to bulge out or sink in slightly. Certainly flat enough for a label to stick.

A trick I have not tried yet is to heat the center of the bulged surface until it is orange hot. Then cool it with a wet towel. The metal will shrink a bit. I'm sure this will take practice to get right. Anyone done this on think sheet metal?

Rick

 

[Tony Wells]

I've never tried it on something that thin, but on material in the 20g range, it works. I've also straightened lots of pump shafting with a torch and a bucket of water. No reason it wouldn't work at least partially on thin material, of course providing you don't burn through. Probably a propane torch would be safer than a oxy-fuel, unless you softened the flame a good bit.

 

[xalky]

A trick I have not tried yet is to heat the center of the bulged surface until it is orange hot. Then cool it with a wet towel. The metal will shrink a bit. I'm sure this will take practice to get right. Anyone done this on think sheet metal?

Rick

I've shrunk dented car panels that way before. You still have to bang out the dent first and get it as close to flat as possible, then heat it and shrink it. The embossing is like a dent which stretched out the metal when it was formed. So it should work fine. It'll get rid of that popper when you shrink it.

 

[rgsparber]

I've shrunk dented car panels that way before. You still have to bang out the dent first and get it as close to flat as possible, then heat it and shrink it. The embossing is like a dent which stretched out the metal when it was formed. So it should work fine. It'll get rid of that popper when you shrink it.

I can use my MAPP torch to heat a patch about the size of a dime until it is orange. Then I slap on a wet rag. Not that I'm good at this, but I find that this creates distortion around the heated area so, on balance, it doesn't make things better. Just smashing down on the surface seems to give the best results.

The heat does make removal of the old paint easy.

Rick

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I use Brother labels on my Altoid boxes. Actually, I used them on some of my Altoid boxes. I probably have 30 or 40 boxes with stuff in them and no labels, which is a giant headache. I need to fire up the label maker again.

 

[xalky]

I can use my MAPP torch to heat a patch about the size of a dime until it is orange. Then I slap on a wet rag. Not that I'm good at this, but I find that this creates distortion around the heated area so, on balance, it doesn't make things better. Just smashing down on the surface seems to give the best results.

The heat does make removal of the old paint easy.

Rick

The idea is to shrink it in the areas where it was stretched and not in the flat areas..... But we're talking altoids boxes here, how important is it. )

 

[rgsparber]

I use Brother labels on my Altoid boxes. Actually, I used them on some of my Altoid boxes. I probably have 30 or 40 boxes with stuff in them and no labels, which is a giant headache. I need to fire up the label maker again.

I use the same ones. They work fine on the sides of the box which are flat. But won't work over embossed areas.

 

[roadie33]

I've used a torch and then Dry Ice on dents in cars to shrink them.
Works great and cheap.
Sand, primer and paint and you can't tell a dent was even there.