canning line dings/dents

[Rod S.]

You see this written often in descriptions of cans. Do you believe these really exist? Are they just for someone to say 'it has a few small dents'? Rod S.

[clark]

I assume it refers to the typical small dings that new aluminum cans have straight from the store. I don't know if they actually happen on the canning line or during transportation & handling.

[chicagocans]

Code words intended to minimize/explain away the flaw as "normal" and inconsequential. Unless they were there, the seller has no clue as to how the ding/dent actually occurred.

[jinsequa]

It is a rare aluminum can that does not have a ding or scuff of some type. I have been looking forever for an aluminum Rainier Malt Liquor (all black can) that has zero dings or scratches....starting to wonder if it is possible. If you collect aluminum it is almost a given there will be dings and scuffs and aluminum that is A+ minty perfect is usually advertised that way because it is so rarely seen.

Eric Palmer

[Rod S.]

Thanks for the feedback. Rod S.

[Mizmo64]

Canning dents are small dents just below the rim of the lid caused by the pressure of the can lidding machine when the lid is applied. The machine cannot differentiate between slightly varying can body heights it set up to make them all the same height.

[JAL]

Canning dents are small dents just below the rim of the lid caused by the pressure of the can lidding machine when the lid is applied. The machine cannot differentiate between slightly varying can body heights it set up to make them all the same height.

They also occur during shipment of product... shippers are brutal.

JAL

[Mizmo64]

Canning dents are small dents just below the rim of the lid caused by the pressure of the can lidding machine when the lid is applied. The machine cannot differentiate between slightly varying can body heights it set up to make them all the same height.

They also occur during shipment of product... shippers are brutal.

JAL

I am sure that shipping is also a factor.

[menke]

Yeah, there's no way to know where they came from; could just be a polite way to say there are some tiny dings too small to photograph. BCM and I got a can company employee collection some years back and the cans had basically no dings at all. Even the steel cans in the 50's got little dimples and scratches around the rims during the filling process and from banging against other cans inside cartons as they worked their way to the consumer.

And then there's cones... I was asked once about the correct heights on quart cones back when I had a large collection. the Crown and American quarts were all uniform in height to within a 32nd or so. Continental was all over the place, pre-and post-war, with a range of about 3/16 from shortest to tallest among factory filled, original cans. Bottle heights vary quite a bit as well, far less uniform than flat tops, and the bottling lines had a range of that accommodated them. Too short or too tall and the bottle would explode when the crown was crimped on, so those never made it to market. But Quart cones could just bend instead of break- I once lined up about 50 Continental quarts and looked down the row and the spouts were pointing all over the place- bent at slight angles, depressed down, bent lips, kind of a mess. 12oz cones had less expanse of metal and are sturdier so they take less of a beating.

[Scott]

This is one reason why there are virtually no truly mint all original flats or cones. If you are lucky enough to come across a can that has been preserved in an ideal environment where no humidity or other minor blemishes developed over the years, chances are it had a few little dings and scratches the moment it rolled off the canning line.