Abstract: A can opener providing a circular cut around the cylindrical wall of a can below the lid and rim which are severed by the cut from the rest of the can. A pair of body members having integrally formed handles are pivoted to one another. A rotatable spindle attached to a driving wheel drives the can opener. A cutting wheel forms a nip with the driving wheel in an operating position to force the cutting edge to penetrate through the wall of the can. A mounting plate carrying the cutting wheel is slidably supported by one body member and is movable by cam means between the operating position and a retracted position as the body members are pivoted between their limits of pivoting. In the retracted position the wheel withdraws into an upstanding guard whose edge abuts the severed top and displaces it.