Magnalite Cast Aluminum

MDFraley

Member
Been cleaning and polishing some of our Magnalite Cast Aluminum (made by Wagner Ware) over the past few days. Seems to have already paid off. The D.O. sold less than 24 hours after posting it for sale. The 2 quart sauce pan in the foreground hasn't been cleaned as of this post. Just wanted to give an idea what most of these pieces looked like prior to cleaning and polishing. I find it quiet rewarding to restore these older pieces because they were made from a much higher quality of metals than what the modern pieces are today.
https://imgur.com/E7iXkrB
 
Very timely post Michael. I spent the morning cleaning and polishing three Magnalite pots and lids I recently acquired. Mine were stained and weathered on the exterior and all I wanted to do was make them look a little better. They will become everyday users. I was flying blind when it came to cleaning them and used methods what would make a collector cringe.

Can you give us a quick overview of how you cleaned your pots?

Also, my 1 1/2 Qt pan has a capital P after the part number. Does this mean the pan is from their "Professional" line?

Jack
 
Very timely post Michael. I spent the morning cleaning and polishing three Magnalite pots and lids I recently acquired. Mine were stained and weathered on the exterior and all I wanted to do was make them look a little better. They will become everyday users. I was flying blind when it came to cleaning them and used methods what would make a collector cringe.

Can you give us a quick overview of how you cleaned your pots?

Also, my 1 1/2 Qt pan has a capital P after the part number. Does this mean the pan is from their "Professional" line?

Jack
Actually you can follow Doug's information here on CIC for the steps in cleaning and polishing the Aluminum pieces. Sometimes I short-cut some of the steps as prescribed and use 0000 steel wool along with bar keepers friend if the surface just has minor scratches and cooking stains and then use the different grids of wet/dry sand paper prior to final polishing. Another variation I use is the "AUTOSOL" metal polish which I find puts a brilliant shine on them instead of the Mag Wheel polish.
As far as the modifier following the P/N I really have no proof as to what it means. I know on the Magnalite Chef's Skillet it has a "C" after the P/N which I thought stands for "Chef". Could be that the P simply stands for pan. Doug D might have better info regarding the letters.
I've also found that "chink marks" that are usually found on the insides of the aluminum cookware are almost impossible to remove. Depending on how desperate one is to remove them you can use a wire brush with an electric drill but it leaves a very rough surface which requires a lot of sanding steps so it's kind of counter-productive in a way.
Well. Thanks for the comments and if you have any lids for a Magnalite 4569P deep skillet just box them up and send my way. Or better yet....just get in the car and head it West to Arizona lol.
 
It seems there are only two letters following Magnalite roaster p/ns, M and P. Doesn't seem to be any difference in the pans.

There has for quite some time now (years) been this re: restoring cast aluminum: http://www.castironcollector.com/aluminum.php

Was just wondering if Magnalite manufactured their Oval Roaster (4265P) that wasn't marked on the bottom as we traditionally see? I have looked thru my books and can not find any reference that did so. Was thinking that they perhaps used paper stickers on pieces they made for outlet stores but it's only a guess. Also the trivet doesn't look like the ones one would see for this roaster. Attached are several pics of the piece I have FYI, Couldn't help but adding a pic of Griswold's Triplicate Sauce Pan I picked up over the weekend. Need the other two pieces and the handle to complete the set. Sure I will be looking for quiet sometime for those pieces.
https://imgur.com/fm8ylph
https://imgur.com/RulLTP9
https://imgur.com/6ctJjdk
 
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Have actually answered my own question regarding markings for the Oval Roaster. Did some further brushing and discovered a set of numbers on the trivet (4267) and barely visible was a scripted portion of Magnalite. Bottom doesn't appear to be worn so I suspect that the pan was very lightly marked during production. So...With that being said it looks like I have myself a 4267 roaster and not the 4265 that I originally thought it was.
 
Marking should have been in the pattern. Seeing a portion of a mark would make me think the pattern marking had been filled in for some reason, and what's visible is a ghost.
 
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