19.5M views · Apr 14, 2015 · 11:39 · 9 HN recommenders · 13 mentions · discussed 2016–2026
Bill Hammack of Engineer Guy explains the engineering behind the aluminum beverage can: why it is cylindrical, how it is manufactured, why it narrows at the top, the double seam, and how the pull tab works.
Why Hacker News points people here: It is a go-to recommendation whenever cans, good design or mass-produced objects come up, and many also recommend the whole channel.
“Whenever it’s about cans I can only recommend this video from the engineer guy”HN comment, 2025
“That was an awesome video.”
Explains can neck and two-mode pull tab
Wow. That was an awesome video. Thank you. I didn't know why the top had a neck. Further efficiency apparently. He has an excellent explanation of the two-mode pull tab towards the end. Direct link: this video
“the Engineering Guy has a really good youtube channel.”
Engineering Guy explains design and manufacture of mundane objects
While we are at it, the Engineering Guy has a really good youtube channel. His videos are not very frequent most of them does a great job explaining how mundane objects are designed and manufactured. I thought I was familiar with some of his subjects but I always end up learning something new after watching. Personal favourites: Aluminium cans: this video Wind-up music box: link Nerf guns: link
“Highly recommended related YT video”
Ingenious can design
Highly recommended related YT video: The Engineering Guy: The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can this video
“All of his work is fantastic.”
Great engineering explainer
Engineer Guy (Bill Hammack) has a great video about this. this video Edit: Just realized this is the same video you referenced. All of his work is fantastic.
“Design of the aluminum beverage can”
Favorite YouTube video
Design of the aluminum beverage can this video For everyone else, thanks for sharing! Normally i think sharing videos is bad mojo--the Internet is so personalized that favorites are difficult to share. But I really enjoyed most of what has been shared so far!
“Nice video on the design and manufacturing of aluminum drinks cans here”
Design and manufacturing of drink cans, tab as lever
Nice video on the design and manufacturing of aluminum drinks cans here: this video The whole thing is pretty ingenious, but the way the internal pressure helps vent the can while the tab is acting as a second class lever, then as soon as it’s vented becomes a first class lever to push the scored section of the top into the can — that’s great engineering.
“Very clever and elegant solution to the problem of opening a can under pressure.”
How the can tab opens under pressure
In a similar vein, I found this explanation [0] of how and why a soda can's tab functions the way it does to be fascinating. Very clever and elegant solution to the problem of opening a can under pressure. 0: this video
“aluminum cans are a great example of quality design”
Aluminum cans as example of quality design
It feels pretty disingenuous to write off all real world design as trivial or impossible to make an impression. For instance, aluminum cans are a great example of quality design this video
“Whenever it’s about cans I can only recommend this video from the engineer guy”
Go-to video about cans
Whenever it’s about cans I can only recommend this video from the engineer guy [1]. He makes no videos anymore sadly. this video
The site looks great and good job on shipping it out! I probably don't fit as your target customer, so please take my feedback with a grain of salt. After digging around your site for a bit, it seems like your "special sauce" is to bring incredibly powerful search features for multiple data types/sources all from a single authoritative place (Shelf.io) Based on your YouTube videos, I really like the ability to parse rich data on the internet and input it for my team to see. Seems like a great product marketing/engineering folks during the high level brainstorming phase. Use case: 1.Software Engineer: Reads a cool article on Medium about some software technique and wants their team to consider it for their their new beta project. 2.Marketing person: Gets inspired by a video/image for a new ad campaign that they are designing and wants to share it with their team. Also as an end user, I really like being able to see your actual product and how it works without needing to signup or give out my information. If the product seems like it can solve my pain point within 45 seconds of an intro video and 5 mins of playing with a demo site, then I'll commit to a email signup. Basecamp's "How it works" tab does a great job of this. On the flip side, I feel that Salesforce doesn't need to do this, since they already have market share and a great reputation for their products. I would take your "Intro to Shelf" YouTube video, cut the first 25 seconds out and embed it somewhere convenient o
“has a video on the design and engineering of the aluminum can with a brief clip of someone standing on a can”
Includes clip of someone standing on a can
Bill Hammond, the Engineer Guy on youtube, has a video on the design and engineering of the aluminum can with a brief clip of someone standing on a can (around the 7-8 minute mark). this video
“refinements in the design of soda cans (thinner walls, different shapes) since 1960 saves "at least 90 million kilograms of aluminum annually.”
Can design refinements save aluminum
It's represented everywhere that efficiency counts. I haven't fact-checked it, but one source[0] claims that refinements in the design of soda cans (thinner walls, different shapes) since 1960 saves "at least 90 million kilograms of aluminum annually." [0] this video
“it is still quite a sophisticated mass produced object.”
Can as sophisticated mass produced object
The complexity of a can isn't as extreme as a disposable ARM chip, but it is still quite a sophisticated mass produced object. this video Many daily life, single use objects have a lot of thoughts put into them: link
