Get A Grip

Whereas I am losing my grip - in more ways than one according to many - I needed to come up with a method to hold the cans steady while drilling out the ends using two different hole saws in my drill press.  Of course there are many ways one could do this.  Many of the younger folks on the net simply held the cans in a gloved hand or in a rubber drink cozy - but they still have a grip!

The fixtiure I came up with utilizes materials from my vast "junk" collection.  I KNEW this suff would come in handy some day!

The first step was to create two L-shaped parts that just fit around the can.

An old door hinge was added to allow insertion and removal of cans.

Then ears were glued and stapled on to allow one half of the holder to be fastened to a base that could then be clamped to the drill press table.

To provide holding traction to the clamping action of the fixture, I used spray adhesive to ahere waffle-type drawer liner material to the inside faces that would contact the can sides.  I then added a quick-latching handle - again using what was on hand.

The last picture above shows how the setup actually works.  Below are the first few cans with the tops having been drilled out using a 2" hole saw.  If you do this, use GENTLE pressure on the drill.  The cans are VERY thin, but as long as you use a soft touch and don't get in a hurry, the process goes quickly and worked well for me.

I did the tops of all 145 cans first.

Then I changed to a 1 1/2" hole saw in the drill press and used the same process to drill out the bottom of all 145 cans.  I should only need 132 for this build, but I thought I'd allow room for error since I have worked with me for a long time now, and I know how I am.

Next, I will build the frame.  I hope to get to that tomorrow and will keep you posted.  Thanks for looking in.  I welcome any comments or questions you may have.

Initial Considerations

This blogging effort (my first) is in response to inquiries by several of the folks who have been kind enough to donate empty soda (Pop for you Yankees) cans for this project. 

While no effort will be made to create an exhaustive "How-To" blog, I will try to document as much of the project as I can and share some of the "lessons learned" as we go along. I have gleaned a lot of useful information from the internet - just browse for "pop-can solar".

At the risk of stating the obvious, here are some starting suggestions:

1. Since accumulation may take a bit, begin can collection; solicit family and friends' help.

2. Identify "window" material to be used.

• considered using salvaged windows I had in barn
• checked Craigs list "Materials" and "Free" categories for storm windows/doors, shower doors, glass
• I ultimately found a free 34" x 76" single tempered pane, and two 46" x 76" double-pane tempered pieces offered by a remodeler simply for the taking

3. Determine insulation material to be used; 3/4" thick, aluminum-foil faced insulating board, from Lowes in my case, and called PERMA "R".

4. I then measuured the length of two cans (9 1/2") and the diameter (2 5/8") to determine how many I would need to fit the space allowed by the glass.

5. Next, I decided I'd use 6" ducting in and out of the heater box.  This is needed so the size of the input and output manifold boxes could be determined.  This will become clearer as the picures are posted. 

6. Having determined these dimensions, I then designed the frame (pictures to follow) in Google SketchUp - a great free 3-D CAD program.

The next post will document the process of building a fixture to hold the cans during the drilling process as well as the process itself.