Cast Iron Shopping

W. Hilditch

Active member
OK, I’m headed into a flea market or antique store. I have the following:

A Leatherman tool, my straight edge, wallet, tape measure, magnet and cell phone with camera on me. I have 4 or 5 colors of books in the car and an eBay app on my phone.

Am I missing anything other than Doug’s cell phone number?

Hilditch
 
Whats the leatherman tool for? Scraping crud off the bottom to look for marks? Also, what books would you recommend as references for a beginner like myself?

---------- Post added at 04:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------

I saw these two books on Amazon:

The Book of Griswold and Wagner: Favorite Wapak, Sidney Hollow Ware Paperback – February 28, 2011

by David G. Smith

and

The Book of Wagner & Griswold: Martin, Lodge, Vollrath, Excelsior (Schiffer Book for Collectors) Paperback – July 1, 2007

by David G. Smith

Are they any good?
 
The verdict is in. I'm not a collector. I bring nothing and try to eye the flatness... :)

I use whatever is readily available to test for flatness. Whether it's the tile/concrete floor, a table, a carpenter's square from the next booth over, or the side of my phone.
 
This was just hypothetical T. I am way on the user side of the line and have too much CI now. Santa can’t even think of a piece I want or need - thank goodness.

Just checking to see if I missed anything while putting together a list in one place of some smart tools to take shopping for those without a whole lot of experience.

I think I’ll stay on hold until that cell phone number is published.

Hilditch
 
Gotcha--one day I hope to have enough CI that I don't 'need' any more...for now, I'm in the beginning stages & chomping at the bit!
 
Gotcha--one day I hope to have enough CI that I don't 'need' any more...for now, I'm in the beginning stages & chomping at the bit!

have enough? Is there such a thing? :D I think I'll come to that point when they bury me in a cast iron coffin, Wagner of course lol.
 
Santa didn’t bring any cast iron, but to my surprise he did bring me a gray book. (I sure do like those long legged spiders.) Now Scott may have a tough time finding his Wagner coffin but that urn on page 70 of the grey book would work just fine for me. MY SO could take me along with her whenever she wanted and warm me up on the hearth when it was cold.

Hilditch
 
A magnifying glass or a good app for that purpose. Helps to check if that is a scratch or a hairline crack, or identifying markings through the crud.
 
Why bring a magnet?

To identify cast aluminum pieces. Sometimes cast aluminum is made in the exact same molds as cast iron, the only ways to tell the difference if covered with grime or paint is by weight, which is hard for some people, or with a magnet, which is fool-proof.
 
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