Is this possibly a diamond in the rough?

beamernc

beamernc

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Got this 10 1/2" cast iron frying pan at a yard sell and wondering if it might be a diamond in the rough. With all the crud on the inside and whole lot more on the outside, with some heat and pressure, it could turn into a diamond. Started working on cleaning it and it is going to take a while. Crud is over 1/8" thick on the outside. So far, used a putty knife to remove some of it around the ring on the bottom and tried a wire brush in my cordless drill, but it is some tough stuff. Easy Off oven cleaner didn't touch it.

The pan is thinner than our other cast iron pans, and it is very smooth on the inside and outside, no sand cast finish anywhere on it. It has an inset "8" on the bottom and the lump turned out to be a sideways "R" under the crud near the handle and no other markings. Any cast iron experts on here recognize what brand it might be?

Any recommendations on removing the crud? I don't think it was ever washed as it is oily/slimy feeling and has some smell like the oil is rancid. When I got some of the heavy stuff off around the bottom ring, there was some rust under it.

I've read where people put them in their ovens on self clean, or in a fire, but I'm afraid with this pan being thinner, the excess heat might warp or crack it. Also seen using electrolysis, but don't have a set up for that and don't have a sand blaster. I believe it will be a nice addition once it's cleaned up and reseasoned.

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beamernc said:
Got this 10 1/2" cast iron frying pan at a yard sell and wondering if it might be a diamond in the rough. With all the crud on the inside and whole lot more on the outside, with some heat and pressure, it could turn into a diamond. Started working on cleaning it and it is going to take a while. Crud is over 1/8" thick on the outside. So far, used a putty knife to remove some of it around the ring on the bottom and tried a wire brush in my cordless drill, but it is some tough stuff. Easy Off oven cleaner didn't touch it.

The pan is thinner than our other cast iron pans, and it is very smooth on the inside and outside, no sand cast finish anywhere on it. It has an inset "8" on the bottom and the lump turned out to be a sideways "R" under the crud near the handle and no other markings. Any cast iron experts on here recognize what brand it might be?

Any recommendations on removing the crud? I don't think it was ever washed as it is oily/slimy feeling and has some smell like the oil is rancid. When I got some of the heavy stuff off around the bottom ring, there was some rust under it.

I've read where people put them in their ovens on self clean, or in a fire, but I'm afraid with this pan being thinner, the excess heat might warp or crack it. Also seen using electrolysis, but don't have a set up for that and don't have a sand blaster. I believe it will be a nice addition once it's cleaned up and reseasoned.

View attachment 684714View attachment 684715View attachment 684719View attachment 684720
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Electrolysis works great. It's worth setting up.
realtree.com

How to Build an Electrolysis Tank for Cast Iron Restoration

If you need to restore a rusty old skillet or other cookware, this easy-to-make E-Tank is the way to go
realtree.com realtree.com
 
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Know real input except I never run ANY of my cast iron straight to “self clean” … I go 400° to broil then to self clean to avoid any thermal shock.
 
Interesting find. The heat ring looks like it has a single notch in it above the "8". Lodge made single notch heat rings with no markings other than the number and a letter between 1920 and 1940. May be one of those.

For cleaning - Don't put in a fire. Electrolysis tank as shown above is the best method. You can also use a lye tank or oven cleaner (google these options and be sure to take the precautions when handling).

A great book is 'A Cast Iron Journey" by James Anderson. Good info on cleaning, identifying, etc.
 
beamernc said:
Will the electrolysis tank remove the greasy crud build up? I thought it was mainly for removing rust.
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It will remove it all or require minimal scraping and the crud just sloughs off.

I have used it on all sizes of pans and cauldrons with fantastic results.
 
Took said:
Interesting find. The heat ring looks like it has a single notch in it above the "8". Lodge made single notch heat rings with no markings other than the number and a letter between 1920 and 1940. May be one of those.

For cleaning - Don't put in a fire. Electrolysis tank as shown above is the best method. You can also use a lye tank or oven cleaner (google these options and be sure to take the precautions when handling).

A great book is 'A Cast Iron Journey" by James Anderson. Good info on cleaning, identifying, etc.
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I believe you nailed it that it is a single notch heat ring. Found a #8 on Etsy that appears to have a similar "lump" on the bottom which looks to be a letter. It is from the 1930's and they want $102. It also has the same handle attachment area which is different than on my other pans.

I got a Chik-Fil-A pickle bucket today that I might try to rig up as an etank. I have several battery chargers and plenty of old lawn mower blades that would make a sacrificial piece.

1697331286164.png

I'll post up pics when I get it finished.
 
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beamernc said:
I believe you nailed it that it is a single notch heat ring. Found a #8 on Etsy that appears to have a similar "lump" on the bottom which looks to be a letter. It is from the 1930's and they want $102. It also has the same handle attachment area which is different than on my other pans.

I got a Chik-Fil-A pickle bucket today that I might try to rig up as an etank. I have several battery chargers and plenty of old lawn mower blades that would make a sacrificial piece.

View attachment 684796

I'll post up pics when I get it finished.
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Just keep in mind that to some degree the transfer is line of sight.

So, you may need to flip the pan after a day or two to face the sacrificial anode to get both sides of your piece clean. This applies if you use only 1 anode (I connect multiple in series).

I also use copper wire between my charger and the pan/anode. I don't clamp directly to the pieces. That keeps your clamps out of the solution and makes it easier to suspend them.
 
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5 gal bucket is not deep enough to hang the pan, so I found an unused plastic trash can that will work well.

@Shady Grady, after the electrolysis, do you need to do anything else to the cast iron, other than wash it good and start the seasoning?
 
Got my etank set up in the garage. Within 5 mins the solution was already dark enough that you could not see the pan any longer. After 30 mins there are already chunks floating on top of the solution.

I attached the pan to copper wire and wrapped it around a piece of 2x2. Also added a couple of zip ties to help hold it. I have plenty of old lawn mower blades to use as sacrificial metal. Added some clamps along side the 2x2 so it can't slip and fall into the solution.

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beamernc said:
5 gal bucket is not deep enough to hang the pan, so I found an unused plastic trash can that will work well.

@Shady Grady, after the electrolysis, do you need to do anything else to the cast iron, other than wash it good and start the seasoning?
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That's it.

You gonna be real happy with this. It will likely start you prowling for rusty cast iron.

Edit - Setup looks great!

I raise the tip of the pan with the wire out of the water. I keep all metal out of the water except for the pan and the anode. The end of your pan will require a touch of extra work but they aren't usually that dirty anyway.

Just don't want anything leeching from another metal. Stainless steel is another big no no.
 
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It's been in nearly 7 hours and some areas are getting good and clean. I just took it out, knocked off a lot of the loose crud and put it back in.

I wished I had weighed it before I started to compare it to the finished weight, to see how much crud came off of it.

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Good deal. I never have patience to get the electrolysis setup. So I just dump a bunch of 100% lye in a bucket with water.

Come back in 24 hours, a little scrub and she's ready to go.

If you do lye, you can dilute the used solution in another bucket of water and dump it in the woods. Don't put it down yer drain if you have a septic. At the solution used for cast iron. It'll kill your good bacteria.
 
I've cleaned them like that by throwing them in a fire or by just laying it directly on the coals on the Weber when I was done cooking. This will take everything off down to the bare cast iron.
 
Geezer said:
I've cleaned them like that by throwing them in a fire or by just laying it directly on the coals on the Weber when I was done cooking. This will take everything off down to the bare cast iron.
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That will clean gunk off but you run the risk of damaging the piece.

 
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Old timers cleaned cast iron by fire. People today don't understand how to do this without damaging the cast iron, but it's pretty simple.

Put the cast iron in the wood fire let it come up to temperature on the hot coals, AND THEN LEAVE IT THE H*LL ALONE UNTIL THE COALS GO COLD BY THEMSELVES! It's cast iron...you pull it out of the coals before everything cools by itself and it WILL crack.

Oh...and don't do this outside in the winter..

You can also do this in an oven on self clean. Generally, the self clean cycle locks the oven door until it's done, but even so the same rule applies...do not open the oven until it's cooled down to room temperature again.

Lye is another way of cleaning "back in the old days". The modern application people are most familiar with is Easy Off. But soaking in a tub of lye water will eat everything off, too.


Never thought about doing this electrically, which is a surprise to me given my EET degree and decades of work in electrical/electronic stuff. But if it works, definitely go for it! That completely eliminates the potential for damage from using fire. If it were me, I'd help speed the process up a bit by first using Easy Off and scraping to remove the major chunks of thick gunk, then put it in the E-bath.
 
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RetiredUSNChief said:
Old timers cleaned cast iron by fire. People today don't understand how to do this without damaging the cast iron, but it's pretty simple.

Put the cast iron in the wood fire let it come up to temperature on the hot coals, AND THEN LEAVE IT THE H*LL ALONE UNTIL THE COALS GO COLD BY THEMSELVES! It's cast iron...you pull it out of the coals before everything cools by itself and it WILL crack.

Oh...and don't do this outside in the winter..

You can also do this in an oven on self clean. Generally, the self clean cycle locks the oven door until it's done, but even so the same rule applies...do not open the oven until it's cooled down to room temperature again.

Lye is another way of cleaning "back in the old days". The modern application people are most familiar with is Easy Off. But soaking in a tub of lye water will eat everything off, too.


Never thought about doing this electrically, which is a surprise to me given my EET degree and decades of work in electrical/electronic stuff. But if it works, definitely go for it! That completely eliminates the potential for damage from using fire. If it were me, I'd help speed the process up a bit by first using Easy Off and scraping to remove the major chunks of thick gunk, then put it in the E-bath.
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That’s how the old timers described the process to me as well, except they waited for the fire to burn down into a bed of coals before they put the pans in. We generally use the oven to burn off our seasonings but I think I’m going to give the electrolysis a try on the next rusty one I clean.

The pan I mentioned above that I blasted is an old Wagner, for whatever reason it absolutely would not hold a seasoning after being stripped in the oven, it’d flake right off. So it’s now got a little bit of tooth and being seasoned now. I’ll have to report back on how it does.
 
hp468 said:
That’s how the old timers described the process to me as well, except they waited for the fire to burn down into a bed of coals before they put the pans in. We generally use the oven to burn off our seasonings but I think I’m going to give the electrolysis a try on the next rusty one I clean.

The pan I mentioned above that I blasted is an old Wagner, for whatever reason it absolutely would not hold a seasoning after being stripped in the oven, it’d flake right off. So it’s now got a little bit of tooth and being seasoned now. I’ll have to report back on how it does.
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That bed of coals is critical. It's an even heat and generally well supports the skillet, as opposed to just tossing it on a wood fire that will potentially unevenly heat the skillet and which will shift about as the wood burns down. This can cause warpage much easier.

You don't need a roaring fire, despite what the caveman "Ugh, FIRE!" part of the mail hindbrain may think! You're not forging...you're simply burning off all the organic cr*p on the iron.
 
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It never fails. Every time someone talks about cast iron the ole fire vs no fire argument comes up. Here is an undeniable fact. No mater what method you use, if you do it wrong you will screw it up.

Example: Too hot a fire and you can warp or crack the cast iron. That is just common sense. But if you do the electrolysis wrong you screw that up too. Example: Don't use AC current for this process. Don't hook the leads up backwards. Don't use the wrong stuff in the solution.


Fire has worked for a lot of years and continues to do a good job provided you know what you are doing. Just like the other methods. Do it wrong, screw it up. Period.
 
Took the pan out and knocked off more loose crud and the outside is about 95% clean, small amount on the end opposite the handle remaining, and the inside is about 60% cleaned. I turned the pan around so the inside is now facing the sacrificial metal. I'll leave it in the tank until tomorrow and check again to see where it's at.

I also switched out the lawnmower blade and put in a "fresh" one. The first one was coated in a heavy encrusted rust and crud. Once it dries, I'll use a wire brush to clean it up.
 
hp468 said:
That’s how the old timers described the process to me as well, except they waited for the fire to burn down into a bed of coals before they put the pans in. We generally use the oven to burn off our seasonings but I think I’m going to give the electrolysis a try on the next rusty one I clean.

The pan I mentioned above that I blasted is an old Wagner, for whatever reason it absolutely would not hold a seasoning after being stripped in the oven, it’d flake right off. So it’s now got a little bit of tooth and being seasoned now. I’ll have to report back on how it does.
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The video mentions not being able to hold a seasoning as a symptom of fire damaged cast iron. The presenter said that after a certain temp the metallurgy of the iron changes.

The ones I've had like that are relegated to camp fire duty. Along with the ones that have fire-warped bottoms.
 
Shady Grady said:
The video mentions not being able to hold a seasoning as a symptom of fire damaged cast iron. The presenter said that after a certain temp the metallurgy of the iron changes.

The ones I've had like that are relegated to camp fire duty. Along with the ones that have fire-warped bottoms.
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Good chance that could be the case here as it’s a hand-me-down from a long past relative. We shall see if it holds up after being seasoned, needs a few more coats before we cook on it.
 
Shady Grady said:
The video mentions not being able to hold a seasoning as a symptom of fire damaged cast iron. The presenter said that after a certain temp the metallurgy of the iron changes.

The ones I've had like that are relegated to camp fire duty. Along with the ones that have fire-warped bottoms.
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thats why all the big cast iron collector sites dont recommend the fire or oven methods, once fire damaged the pan is ruined
 
All done but the finishing; seasoning and it's in the oven for the first round now.

Before and after.
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I had forgotten that I had cleaned up this Wagner Ware Sidney O #8 that my mom had and gave it to my daughter. She reminded me yesterday when I was telling her about the one I was working on. I believe it is from the 40's or 50's.
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Well you’re halfway there … seasoning it is not as much work but a little voodoo does help … along with the proper “medium” to use … for me and my uses I gotta finish off the seasoning with a couple cycles of bacon renderings 🤤
 
I watched one video where the guy "seasoned" his pan by placing it on the stove top, without any oil, and heated it on high until the entire pan turned blue. Took about an hour. According to steel tempering charts, his pan must have been between 560-570 degrees. I'll just stick with oiling.
 
beamernc said:
All done but the finishing; seasoning and it's in the oven for the first round now.
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You can season a skillet with a variety of oils, and indeed you can get quite a rise out of a group of people as to what oil is best and exactly how to conduct the seasoning.

However, a higher smoke point on the oil is a driving factor in what works better. Avocado has the highest at 510F to 520F.

However you do your seasoning, realize that the actual initial seasoning is only the start. Seasoning is continued and maintained by proper use of your cast iron skillet afterwards.
 
beamernc said:
I watched one video where the guy "seasoned" his pan by placing it on the stove top, without any oil, and heated it on high until the entire pan turned blue. Took about an hour. According to steel tempering charts, his pan must have been between 560-570 degrees. I'll just stick with oiling.
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Yeeeeaaaaahhhh...

Is he one of those who generates those memes reminding people to swap their battery terminals on their cars every season change?

😆
 
I helped my dad awhile back clean up and re season a few old pans that belonged to his grandparents my great grandparents. We used cheap sandblaster and walnut medium worked really good without harming the pans then lard and more lard for seasoning. The pans I have been using for 20+ years pretty much just get wiped down and set back on stove for the next meal. I don't care nothing for all the new fancy space age pots and pans. Give me a good piece of cast iron any day of the week.
 
NCFubar said:
Well you’re halfway there … seasoning it is not as much work but a little voodoo does help … along with the proper “medium” to use … for me and my uses I gotta finish off the seasoning with a couple cycles of bacon renderings 🤤
Click to expand...



I see you use the same lie I use. Truth is I just really like bacon.
 
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