What is "tinning"

Tin \Tin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Tinning.] To cover with tin or tinned iron, or to overlay with tin foil.

Tinning \Tin"ning\, n.

1. The act, art, or process of covering or coating anything with melted tin, or with tin foil, as kitchen utensils, locks, and the like.

2. The covering or lining of tin thus put on.

n. A covering or lining of tin. vb. (present participle of tin English)

1. n. the application of a thin layer of soft solder to the ends of wires before soldering them; "careful tinning of the ends of wires results in a better joint when you solder them"

2. the application of a protective layer of tin [syn: tin-plating]

1. n. a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide [syn: Sn, atomic number 50]

2. metal container for storing dry foods such as tea or flour [syn: canister, cannister]

3. airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc. [syn: can, tin can]

4. [also: tinning, tinned]

1. v. plate with tin

2. preserve in a can or tin; "tinned foods are not very tasty" [syn: can, put up]

3. prepare (a metal) for soldering or brazing by applying a thin layer of solder to the surface

4. [also: tinning, tinned]

See tin

Tinning is the process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate. It is most often used to prevent rust.

While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture of tin cans. Formerly, tinplate was used for cheap pots, pans and other holloware. This kind of holloware was also known as tinware and the people who made it were tinplate workers.

The untinned sheets employed in the manufacture are known as black plates. They are now made of steel, either Bessemer steel or open-hearth. Formerly iron was used, and was of two grades, coke iron and charcoal iron; the latter, being the better, received a heavier coating of tin, and this circumstance is the origin of the terms coke plates and charcoal plates by which the quality of tinplate is still designated, although iron is no longer used. Tinplate was consumed in enormous quantities for the manufacture of the tin cans in which preserved meat, fish, fruit, biscuits, cigarettes and numerous other products are packed, and also for the household utensils of various kinds made by the tinsmith.

Tinning is a surname and it may refer to:

• Iben Tinning (born 1974), Danish golfer
• Marybeth Tinning (born 1942)
• Steen Tinning (born 1962), Danish golfer