As the first in a series of blogs on the art of re-purposing household items, I’ve chosen the highly hackable Pringles can. Invented by Proctor and Gamble scientist, Frederic Bauer, the Pringles can has become an icon of American food-packaging ingenuity, but it does more than hold overlapping hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped chips. Aside from some of the less exciting secondary uses like storing tennis balls, yarn and paint rollers (seal them in a can and put in fridge between uses. The roller will be good to go for days), the humble Pringles can has become a go-to platform for frugal DIY innovators. Perhaps it’s fitting that after Bauer passed away on May 4th of last year, he pioneered yet another use for his invention when his remains (or part of them) were buried in one.

Here’s a list of some Pringles Can innovations that go beyond just storing things:

    Wind Turbines

  • The Pringles Can Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT):
    Hypothetical question: Your plane goes down on an uncharted island. You must get through the sonic fence erected by some weird hippie types years ago to keep out the hostile natives. Sayid tells you he thinks he can jam the fence’s sensors with your walkie if he can just get his hands on a 6V, 120ma power source to recharge its batteries. All you’ve managed to salvage from the wreckage is some magnet wire and magnets, a couple of Wham CDs, a paper towel holder, a tube of Pringles, a magnifying glass, and a hot glue stick.

    What do you do?

    (Answer on page http://www.reuk.co.uk/Pringle-Tube-VAWT-Wind-Turbine-Plans.htm)

  • The DIY Pringles Can Windmill:
    Looking for a more conventional Pringles can wind turbine? Here’s how to cut a Pringles can to fashion the blades and hub:
    http://www.persistentrealities.com/pringles

    Culinary

  • The Pringles Can Solar Hot Dog Cooker:
    Make shuttle bay doors on the Pringles can about large enough to expose a hotdog, fold out the doors so inner foil reflects sun into “cargo bay” area, put skewer through lid and bottom with hotdog and oven bag. Place in full sun for about 30 minutes.
    Here’s a video from Louisiana4H:

  • Make Lollipops:
    Cut Pringles can in half, put holes in sides near bottom for air to get in, place bottom of Pringles can over small candle, use can bottom as cooking surface, place sugar on surface, melt sugar, put toothpick in sugar, let cool. (Note: The bottom of the Pringles can is the metal part. Doodadica.com strongly advises against using the plastic lid as a cooking surface. Doodadica.com testers inform us that this simply does not work.)
    Here’s the video: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-make-homemade-lollipops-with-a-pringles-can-235497/


    Photography

  • A DIY snoot (yes, a snoot: Basically a device used by photographers to create a spotlight effect with a flash):
    Trace the shape of the flash on the metal bottom, and (carefully) cut the shape out and squeeze the flash in there.
    Recommended: spray paint the interior matte black to avoid reflections from the shiny surface creating extra rings in your spotlight.
    Optional: Put the lid on the other end to act as a diffuser.
    See example here.

  • A Macro Lens:
    Take a camera body cover (the lens cap-like thing that protects the inside of the camera when no lens is attached), dremel it out and sand it down, cut a hole in the bottom of the can so that the body cover fits snugly and glue it in place, take a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens (I actually own one of these, and for $85, it’s a surprisingly good lens) and wrap it in black fabric and duct tape until it fits snugly in the can. (You focus by sliding the lens inside the tube.) Now attach your new Pringles lens to the camera, and you’re ready to take high quality, extreme close ups.

    Recommended: Dremmel out the lens cap and attach it to the lens so that you can more easily manipulate the lens once inside.
    See example here.

    Just for fun:

  • The Pringles Can Cannon:
    If for some reason you need some means of firing tennis balls across your neighborhood, this video (apparently based on a design from the classic tome of adolescent anarchy, Backyard Ballistics) will show you how to cut up and tape a couple of Pringles cans together to make a handheld launcher.
    (Note: This device operates by exploding gas at high pressure inside cylindrical cardboard tubes designed to hold potato chips and should be considered very dangerous–or lethal–to both the operator and bystanders. Doodadica.com recommends you do not attempt to build or operate this device unless the firing of high velocity tennis balls is absolutely necessary and no safer means is available to you.):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifndrankb1E

  • Smoking things:
    Pringles can hooka (or shisha):
    Here’s a Youtube video by dmcwebd on how to make a hooka using a Pringles can, and all those spare hooka parts you have laying around:
    http://www.youtube.com/v/givwNF_OIKU&hl=en&fs=1

    Pringle’s Can Bong (of course): Video from Daisukekun01:



    (Note: Inhaling burning particulates of any type may be hazardous to your health, and is often illegal because it creates excuses for governments to increase their funding and powers. Doodadica.com does not endorse or recommend the use of homemade burning particulate producer/inhaler-sort of devices, or indeed of professionally made ones.)