Can't open a screw-top jar and the man isn't around? Do not want to spoil the lid with a knife, but do not have enough physical strength to unscrew it?
Twist-top jars are very helpful in canning, but when opened, they behave very unpredictably. Theoretically, with a little effort, the lid should unscrew freely. But this does not always happen. Any hostess has her own stock of secrets and wisdom for solving this problem, however, we will also give you a couple of tips.
How to open the screw cap
To begin with, try to degrease as much as possible not only the jar and lid, but also your own hands. You can try to increase friction by putting an elastic band on the lid or wrapping it with cling film.
Rubber gloves can also help you - they will reduce the slip of your hands on the jar. With the same success, you can use a regular kitchen towel.
Then put into practice the knowledge of physics - try to twist not the lid, but the jar. In this case, rotate the lid counterclockwise, and the jar clockwise.
Another reliable method is to heat the lid - put it in hot water for a while (holding the jar upside down) and then try to open it.
You can try to scroll the cover with a sheet of coarse sandpaper. Put the sandpaper on the cover, abrasive down and unscrew.
With a wooden or plastic knife handle, lightly tap the lid around the circumference - after that it should open quietly.
An interesting male way of opening a screw cap was sent by our regular reader and commentator Egor Serov:
You can try the next option - putting the jar lid down, drip a few drops of vegetable oil between the lid and the neck of the jar. After waiting until the oil spreads evenly (about 15 minutes) and gets into the smallest cracks, open the jar.
There is another way - to roll the lid along the edge of the table, pressing on it. The jar should be outside the table, and the lid on the edge of the table. At the same time, the lid slightly bends, a characteristic cotton is heard and that's it! Lid can be used!
Some housewives have a wonderful way of opening such lids - turn the jar over, lightly tap the bottom with a light cotton and open it.
Still, the best fail-safe method is to pry off the lid with a can opener. However, if you do not want to spoil the lid, then this method will not work for you - after all, the main advantage of the screw cap is that it can be used repeatedly, and in this case it will be irretrievably lost.
If these methods do not help you, and each opening of a jar turns into a real torment, then the benefits of civilization will help you. For many years, people all over the world have been using a special tin wrench to open jars with screw caps. The relatively low price and ease of use of this universal wrench (suitable for different cap diameters) will save you from this problem forever.
Do not forget about the main tool for solving such problems - strong male hands will always help in such a situation and make you feel like a weak and tender woman.
Everyone uses canned food these days. Their modern version is a glass jar closed with a twist-off tin lid. Anyone who has ever opened such canned food knows that it is not easy to do it manually. It's all because of the small edges protruding from the back of the covers. They are screwed onto a jar, the neck of which is equipped with a large thread. When closed, the lid seems to be screwed into the jar.
This method of sealing has replaced the labor-intensive classic seaming lids. Agree that it is much easier. Indeed, in order to firmly and hermetically close the jar, it is enough to turn the lid on the jar with a suitable thread to the stop. No seaming machines, everything is done by hand.
On the other hand, not many people manage to open such a cover manually without damaging its edges. Today's homemade product will help solve this problem - an opener for twist-off lids.
Materials, tools
For our miracle invention, we need:- A small piece of a wooden block with a section of 20x30 mm;
- Used 3 or 5 L PET canister;
- Wooden ice cream stick;
- Several self-tapping screws with a wide hat on wood (press washer).
Let's start tinkering
The main element of our opener is a wooden block. He will work with him from the very beginning. For the convenience of processing it, the author used a vise, as shown in the photo.
We clamp the bar in a vise and cut off a fragment of 10-12 cm from it for the handle. To make the cut cleaner, it is advisable to do this with a hacksaw with a fine-toothed blade.
Next, cut off one end of the finished handle at an angle of 35-45 degrees. We clean the end with a small file or needle file.
It should turn out exactly like this.
From the side of the truncated plane, we mark a perpendicular line. We use the needle file as a ruler, and the marker for marking.
We make an incision with a hacksaw to the middle of the bar. If the groove is too narrow. It is necessary to flare it with the same hacksaw blade or a paint knife, and refine it with fine-grained sandpaper.
We cut off a strip from a plastic canister with a width equal to our bar. With a paint knife, this work can be done as accurately as possible.
It's time to use the secret weapon - an ice cream stick))
With it, we wedged a plastic tape inserted into a slot made with a hacksaw. We knock it lightly with a hammer for reliability, trying not to split the bar at the same time. We cut the protruding remains of a wooden stick with scissors on both sides.
Each of us has to open various canned foods wrapped with a metal lid in a glass jar. Not always, attempts are crowned with a result, since the lid is additionally held by the vacuum formed inside.
At the time of conservation, the products are loaded hot and after closing, they cool down, creating, although not complete, but a vacuum. Therefore, you have to pick the lid with the tip of a knife and let air inside the jar. In this case, the cover is damaged and its reuse is problematic.
It is much more reliable to use a special key for such purposes, which consists of a belt and a wooden handle. Making such a key is quite simple, just find an unnecessary belt and a wooden block 120 x 40 x 20 mm and two screws 4 x 35 mm.
At the end of the wooden block, it is necessary to make a cutout, under the circumference of the can, using a jigsaw. Then wrap the lid of the jar with a belt and leave another 45 mm of belt around the edges, cut off the rest of the belt.
After that, fold the two ends of the belt and screw it to the block of wood, with two screws, from the side of the cutout. The can opener is ready. The belt fits snugly to the edge of the cover, and when turned to the side, counterclockwise, the cover is clamped and, with further application of force, it is unscrewed.
Hello. Today I want to talk about a homemade device that greatly simplifies the process of opening jars with twist-off lids.
I'll start in order. My mistress always closes a lot of homemade preparations. There are compotes, and pickles and pickled mushrooms and all kinds of salads ... And of course, jams. Previously, for this, mainly cans were used "for seaming", but now, this type of lid is used only on large, three-liter cans. Smaller jars have been replaced with those that close with twist-off screw caps. All purchased products, such as green peas, etc., are also now usually closed with such lids ...
..Closing such lids is a real pleasure! There is no key needed! But now, to open ... After all, they close hot! And after cooling, the volume of the product inside decreases and "vacuumization" occurs - a vacuum is formed inside and the lid "sticks" to the jar.
Of course, you can just gently bend the edge of the lid with a knife and let the air inside. (On this site, I remember, there is even a description of a special device for such a process). But here, with jams, this method does not always justify itself. After all, when pouring hot jam into a jar, it will definitely fall on the edges. The hostess, of course, will wipe the “neck” of the can before closing it ... but, after all, she will wipe it, and not rinse it !!!)))). And the cover, attracted by the "vacuum", will not only be attracted, but also glued !! And often, by slightly bending the edge, the problem cannot be solved - the plastisol pad remains glued to the jam that has dried during storage, and does not let air in. You have to bend it harder, deforming the cover. And such a cover is no longer suitable for subsequent use ...
Therefore, I decided to make a key that would help open such lids... why we love our women is for their "sweet impotence".)))). So I'm pretty tired of being constantly asked to open a jar!!
Initially, at the suggestion of a work colleague, I "solved the problem" by purchasing a "factory production" key. Here is this (photo from the Internet):
He solved the problem for a couple of months, although he slipped sometimes. But today, as soon as I went to the basement-workshop to work "for the soul", I was again "pulled" to open the jar!!! It turned out that the "shop plastic" broke a long time ago! And this time I decided to make a homemade strong "device", which will last for a long time!!!))))
I knew the general features of the future design for a long time. I've done something similar before in a hurry. (True, a little for other purposes!))). This was back in the days when there were no oil change centers, and I changed it myself in the car. Whoever did this knows how difficult it is sometimes to unscrew the old oil filter! So something like this happened to me - the filter did not want to turn away. There was an old toothed belt in the garage. I wrapped the filter around it, and the belt itself, in the place where it is folded, fastened it tightly with electrical tape to a wooden block. It turned out like this:
Only that belt was toothed, and the electrical tape was blue !!!)))).
With this tool, I easily unscrewed the filter. It worked like this:
Only instead of a can of paint there was a filter, and the electrical tape, I repeat, is BLUE !!)))))
And even though I made this device for one-time use, it lay in my installation pit for many years, and made it easier to work many times!
And now I decided "not to reinvent the wheel", but to do it "on the knurled".
But a kitchen is a kitchen. There is no place for trees here. And therefore, I decided to do it according to the same principle, but without a tree ....
So, I needed:
1. Flat (poly V-ribbed) drive belt from a car.
2. A cut of a railing ("furniture") chrome-plated pipe with a diameter of 16 mm.
3. Plastic plug for this pipe.
4. Blind rivets.
5. Shrink sleeve (optional).
6. A piece of steel corner 45 by 45 mm. (This one came to hand)))).
Set of tools- minimum: angle grinder, drill, riveter, hammer, technical hair dryer (if thermocambric is used, which is not necessary).
First of all, I started making the handle. I decided to make it from trimming a chrome tube. I often use it in my homemade, so I always have a trim:
I flattened its edge in a vise, after wrapping it with electrical tape so as not to "pokatsat" ... (As it turned out later - in vain.)))):
Since the diameter of the tube is small (and even smaller in a flattened state), and its end is not able to provide the necessary stop, I decided to provide it with an additional stop-lever. I made this part from an equal-shelf corner with a 45 mm shelf. (It can be less. It’s just that such a piece was lying in plain sight and was the first to fall under the arm!))))
It was from him that I cut off a piece of the width I needed:
What width exactly? ... And here is this one:
Then, with the help of a hammer, he slightly bent one of the shelves:
How much exactly did he bend ???... But for so much:
(When making homemade products, I often do without drawings and measurements, but simply use the "applied method". This is when I applied it - and looked at exactly what size I need!)))))
(Now, by the way, I noticed that this hammer was also once made by myself. I cut it out of the square and welded the armature, onto which I pulled the handle from some old broken Chinese knob ... Pay attention - between the handle and the hammer head dressed all the same, my favorite, railing tube))))))
Well, God be with him, with a hammer ... Let's continue ...
I processed the corner with an emery-petal circle and painted it from a spray can. (At the same time, in order to speed up the drying process of the enamel at times, I heated the blank itself to a hot state with a hair dryer, and carefully warmed the can "in a water bath." ).
And, nevertheless, it takes some time to dry, and for the time being I started making a loop.
I had such a V-ribbed drive belt from a car lying around:
The belt is definitely not new. Simply, the car mechanic who changed it put the removed belt into the package. (They always do this). From it I cut off a piece of the desired length.
Which one exactly? ... Yes, here is such a one)))):
I washed the resulting segment from technical dirt with hand washing paste. And then some dishwashing liquid...
After that, I tightly wound it with electrical tape. (Again, there was no blue one ... It's a pity! It would be stronger))))
By this time, the enamel on my corner had dried:
I inserted it into the flattened end of the tube:
And I drilled two holes with a drill, with a diameter of 5 mm:
With the same drill, I drilled a hole in the belt:
Using pop rivets of the right length, I attached the strap to the handle. I did it in the following way: first I riveted one rivet. After that, I aligned the belt, drilled another hole in it, and secured it with a second rivet. At the same time, under the rivet heads, for a more reliable fastening of the belt, I placed enlarged M5 washers, which were found in my stocks:
And at this stage, I really didn’t like the appearance of this mount ...))) .. I solved this problem with the help of a large-diameter heat-shrinkable cambric, the stocks of which I also had. First, I cut off and rounded all the protruding parts of the belt with a technical knife:
I cut off a piece of the desired length from the cambric. (I defined it, again, by the "applied method"))))
Quote from Nruter
Absolutely right! The lid is very difficult to open because the jar has a vacuum - the pressure is below atmospheric pressure. Simply pry the lid off with the handle of a spoon or the blade of a knife and equalize the pressure, and then the lid opens with two fingers. Is it really so difficult to understand the author of this "homemade"?
Apparently, your hostess does not close the jam ...)))) But mine loves to do this very much ...))))
... I wrote this in an article about my similar design ... Read ... There I explained why I had to make such a design ...
I will repeat here.
This is necessary ONLY for jams, jams and other things ... Everything else, as you and Pokhmelev quite rightly noted, easily opens after "air is let in" inside ...
But here, with jam, this number does not always work ... The fact is that she pours it into a jar hot and thick. That is, it often happens that the jar is filled to the very lid (After pouring, the "hump" blurred)))). And in this case, the plastisol sealant is firmly glued to the rim of the can. Moreover, inside the jam also seals the lid and does not let air in with a weak bend. You have to use a knife or other "lever" to bend the lid very hard until the plastisol "breaks loose"! And after this, the lid is already thrown away!
.. In fairness, I’ll say that even with my adaptation, my hostesses cope with such a jar of jam only together! One holds the jar with both hands, the other twists! ....
Well, there is not enough female handle in order to grab and hold the jar !!!))))
(This summer, my daughter is getting married and will live separately ... Well, I’ll have to make the same lever in order to hold the jar!))))).. And this is more difficult - and the radii of the cans are different ... And the emphasis with the belt must be made wider - so that the glass is not pushed through))))). Well, okay ... We will solve problems as they appear!))). While there are two of them ... Cope)))))
But still, it's better than constantly tugging at me!!
And, by the way, this device, from this article, is unlikely to turn off such "powerful" covers ... (Mine has a larger lever and it is much stronger). And, most likely, it will bend the edge of the cover. (Most likely, it was made for the sake of a video on YouTube, and not for practical use) ... I tuned mine for a very long time, changing the radius of the belt and fine-tuning the curvature of the stop lever, until I ensured that the 82 mm cover stopped deforming even with very strong jerks.
P.S. I answer only to you and Pokhmelev ... There is no desire to talk with a "cool kid" ...))) ... This is not a grateful thing. Youthful maximalism is rushing there ... Most likely - either a green kid, or one who will never grow up and will be an eternal fan of "unrealistically cool homemade" ....
