A top bead cutting and removal device and method for removing at least a part of the top bead of the cap connecting the top with the body portion of a can as associated with commonly constructed can beads for the purpose of determining the amount of fold-over associated with the construction of the cans for the purpose of quality control of the manufacturing process. The device of this invention is provided with a rotatable chuck member having extending therefrom a cutting knife which is adjustably mounted from the rotatable support for the purpose of suitably removing an intermediate part of the top bead to sever the outer fold-over portion of the can top bead from the top itself. Also mounted from the rotatable chuck member are displacement rollers for effecting a longitudinal movement along the can body of the remaining severed portion of the bead of the end cap after the severance thereof.
