Repairing Cracked Cast Iron

M Yaworski

New member
I have an old Wagner chicken fryer that is my go to pan. I inherited it about 30 years ago and I believe that it is about 70 years old.

The other day I put in on a low heat to preheat as I've done a thousand times before and set about getting stuff out of the fridge. "CLANG!!" I thought that something had fallen but looking around I saw nothing out of place. Then I saw my pan had a big old crack running across the bottom and up the side.

So, the question of the day is about repair.

I've seen some stuff online about welding with either stainless 308 or NIROD.

I've also seen some stuff about using a product called Castalloy to repair it.

Anyone have any experience with repairs?
 
Don't mean to sound like a smart *** but you are better off just finding yourself another pan of the same type. There are plenty of them available both on the web and at local antique/auction/resale shops etc.
Repairs are done all the time to cast iron but they are never the same and ugly at best. There are several post here on CIC addressing the same subject matter but none that were successful enough to recommend. You'll also find video's on YouTube but none that I would try and for the most part I personally think some are down right dangerous.
Sounds like you know how to cook using cast iron so it may just have been that the temperature was a bit too high or a number of many things could have contributed to it cracking.
Good luck in your search for a replacement.
 
I used JB Weld on a skillet before. I have no intention of using it, its a wall hanger....I did it to keep the crack worse, cause the handle would fall off. It worked for what I did with it, but I WOULD NOT cook with it. I have no clue if JB Weld is safe for food or not, im assuming not.
 
Don't mean to sound like a smart *** but you are better off just finding yourself another pan of the same type. There are plenty of them available both on the web and at local antique/auction/resale shops etc.

I've found the same pan on eBay for about $50, including shipping. I'll probably go that route.
 
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