Analog Can Counter

In 2006, during my first season at the cannery, one of my main memories was of the can counter (pictured right) that sits on the front of the can seamer which puts the lids on the cans. It was a great pleasure each day to watch this mechanism track our daily progress of canned fruit produced. There's something about seeing this analog number increasing and the feeling of what each count represents to our customers and my family. The highest daily total I have ever seen was 14,153 when we were producing 15oz cans. Our old fashioned process is very much like home canning so it is amazing to see what can be accomplished.

**Again Happily Counting the Finished Cans**

At the end of last season, the can counter stopped working- I didn't cry but I was close. This Spring I finally had time to check out what might be wrong. It was a pleasure to swing the arm, watch the mechanism rotate and numbers turn over except it didn't work every time. I found that there was a build-up of grime that kept it from working properly. I sprayed it with cleaner, then dried and oiled the mechanism. I'm so happy that this device is again smoothly counting the progression of the finished cans as they roll off the line.