Tin Bashing

I recently got a book first published in the 1930's called Tin Can projects and Art Metal work. It gave instruction on producing small items for the home made from recycling old food tins. Things like candle holders and titbit dishes. It was written as a way of giving information to a desperate people in a recession and as we are heading in that direction I thought it was relevant to have a go in today's unsure world.
It had a list of methods and techniques and gave me a little burst of inspiration to create. That was one part of the inspiration, the other came from the firebowls of John T. Unger.

So I had my tin can, derived of all traces of cat food, now I needed a design. I've done a little air brush work and can draw a mean cartoon style flame. I wanted a design similar to John's firebird grills but with my own twist. I experimented with a few sketches to get the level of balance and detail right for the size of tin then transferred the design to the tin with a Sharpie. Now I had to cut it out. 
Tin snips proved to be too big and awkward to wield without the danger of loosing a finger and after shedding a little blood for my art I decided to uses another method.
The book talked about using a punch or die to cut holes in the cans, so I took it a step further and decided on using a chisel about 4mm wide. DON'T PANIC! I didn't use a wood chisel, I took a big 6 inch nail and used my trusty hand grinder to fashion a flat cutting edge. This I then used to stamp out the design, following the line of the Sharpie.

But now problem number two made its début. As I struck the cutter with the forced needed to cut the tin, it caved in. I needed some snug support. I took a block of square wood, a foot of a palette, and with a block plane worked it into a cylinder of wood which fitted so air tight I needed to insert a screw to get it out. It took a little time and effort but I now have a former to use again and again.
It proved a very therapeutic exercise following the line and the result was pleasing enough for a first attempt.
In theory I could cut any design, which has opened up a world of possibility, you could do it too, just look out for the sharp edges and don't cut yourself.