Design Notes
3/6/21
How to open and close a paint can.
 
Opening a paint can is easy. Any flat piece of metal, not too thick and not too wide, can be used to pry the lid up. But how do you close it?
Most people use a hammer of some sort to close a paint can. This is bad. Paint in the gutter where the lid seals come flying out. Some put plastic wrap on it first. Others have rags or a towel at the ready. 
Some use a nail and hammer to poke small holes in the gutter. This allows the paint to drain back into the can. It is a little risky and may turn the can over. 
Our paint can tool solves all those issues by piercing holes in the gutter with ease and gently prying the lid closed. Three functions in one tool plus a bottle opener and small nail puller.

View paint can tool here
1/17/21
Why do paint can lids get stuck closed?
The simple answer is paint can act like glue. Paint standing in the gutter of the can covers all the surface of the gutter and lid as the lid is pushed down. It dries and the lid is glued shut. 
The solution is to poke holes in the bottom of the gutter so the paint drains back in to the can. 
The paint can tool does that with ease and no risk of tipping over the can like using a nail and hammer does.




1/2/21
ACME definition


From Merriam-Webster

                 ac·me|\ˈak-mē\
Definition ofacme:
the highest point or stage the acme of his fame:something or someone that represents perfection of the thing expressed  a system that is the acme of efficiency

 In Greek, acme meant a mountain peak, but in English we hardly ever use it in the physical sense. Instead we speak of someone's new job as the acme of her career, or of a certain leap as the acme of classical dance technique. In old Road Runner cartoons, the Acme Company is the provider of every ingenious device imaginable.                                                                                                                                  
The ACME paint can tool was all that. It is simply the best can tool. It opens a can with very little distortion, punches holes in the gutter to allow the paint to drain back in to the can (while not compromising the lid seal), and gently closes the can.




12/28/20
How does a paint can lid seal?
The lid of a paint can goes into what is called the gutter. Just like a house gutter, liquid gathers there. Poking a few holes in the gutter allows the paint to drip back into the can. 
Notice there is an area below the lip of the can lid. In this cutaway drawing the edge of the lip is in red. The paint can gutter is in white. The green is an area where the lid does not touch the gutter bottom. 
So poking a few holes in the bottom of the gutter will not change how well the paint can is sealed when the lid is pushed into the gutter. It is the sides of the gutter and lid lip that form the seal.
12/12/20
What metals do you use?
In designing the paint can combination tool several different metals were considered. The original ACME tool was plated mild steel, which is relatively cheap and easy to use, but not as durable as stainless. For the new tool, mild steel would need to be plated and possibly heat treated, so stainless wins on that count. The cost offset also favors stainless, which needs no further treatments. Harder alloys of stainless were considered. Again the gain in various mechanical properties was minimal and the cost was nearly doubled. So after days of research and thought, it was a simple decision to use the more common 304 stainless.
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