Popping dents out of M1858 Canteens

[mach1derful]

Anyone figure out a good way of popping dents out of the smooth sided m1858 canteens? I have one with the cover and its otherwise in fantastic shape. I thought about feeding a triangular bent end of a wire hanger through the mouthpiece and turning it from the inside to pop them out.

[Dragoon]

Not sure if you would have access to a copy of "Instructions For The Care And Repair Of Small Arms And Ordnance Equipment 1915" pages 29-31. It shows a particular tool and technique for removing dents from 1910 canteens, whilst I understand these are a different model the principle would be similar depending where the dents are, the tool is quite simple, I would stress great care should be taken particularly in the neck area, it would be a shame to damage your canteen, perhaps it is best left as is. If you do not have a copy I can see about sending you a copy.

[boyt44]

Without seeing it, I would tend to leave it alone,especially with an original cover on it. Even with a tool, I can't imagine how you might develop enough leverage to beat a dent out from the inside. The ones I have are fairly thick metal-I wonder how they got dented in the first place.

[ron norman]

Anyone figure out a good way of popping dents out of the smooth sided m1858 canteens? I have one with the cover and its otherwise in fantastic shape. I thought about feeding a triangular bent end of a wire hanger through the mouthpiece and turning it from the inside to pop them out.

[ron norman]

Most Civil War Canteens show wear and tear and dents. I have a dozen or more and most have a dent or two. In the heat of battle I would guess they were walked on, sat on or dropped or even a horse or wagon may have hit it. As long as it would hold water it would be used.

 

Ron Norman

[X_redcatcher]

I have to agree, I would leave it alone, you may end up doing more damage than good.

[mach1derful]

WILCO. You're all probably right about leaving it alone. I've been too curious and over ambitious in the past with trying to fix some things. Usually the kitchen sink.

[Sgt Saunders]

It depends if it is a dent or crease. Forget about the crease it's there. If it is a shallow dent and you had a way to pressurize it, you can tap on it with a rubber hammer. I'd go no more that 10-15 pounds or so. You don't want to balloon it out. A life long friend does this trick with old radiators in his shop. I've seen it done and it does work. But he has had a few that ballooned. It depends how thick the metal is and how much pressure you use. That being said if it were me I'd leave it alone too.

[bayonetman]

I have seen canteens and other similar metal items have dents removed by a specialist, an old friend of my grandfather. His method, which I believe is an old one, used a fairly long bar with a round ball on the end just large enough to go through the opening in the neck. The bar was firmly locked horizontally into a heavy vise, and the canteen inserted so that the ball on the bar is just under the dent. Then the canteen is gently tapped with a rubber mallet, slowly working all around the dent. Done carefully and with just enough force to slowly work the metal, a dent can be made almost invisible.

 

However, this is not something that can be done well on the first try. I did a few on some pretty beat up WW1 and WW2 US canteens, and although I got fairly good after some time, the first attempts were not very good. I would not recommend this be done by anyone who has not had quite a bit of experience, and especially not since it would be VERY easy to damage the cover. Like the others here, I would leave it alone.