New to the Cast Iron addiction. I started by watching videos on how to clean, season and identify the different makers of Cast Iron on YouTube. I went to our local indoor flea market and spent a few hours browsing around for a few different size skillets to clean up and re-season, I found about 40 or so to choose from. I found 12 that where in pretty good shape, a few where a bit crusty on the bottoms. I started off by soaking them all in water and vinegar for a few days, I then took my die grinder with a wire wheel and cleaned them down to bare metal. Now I'm in the process of re-seasoning them a few at a time in my barbecue grill. When I get finished I'll post a few pictures. I found a link to this great site today, thanks for letting me in so quick. Sorry for the long post. :biggrin:
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Hello Fom the Deep Woods of Kentucky
- Thread starter Gary T
- Start date
First, welcome to the site.
Second, I'm going to direct you to the 'restoration' page.
http://www.castironcollector.com/restore.php
(and suggest you don't mention the words 'grinder' or 'wire wheels' ever again.
yikes!)
Second, I'm going to direct you to the 'restoration' page.
http://www.castironcollector.com/restore.php
(and suggest you don't mention the words 'grinder' or 'wire wheels' ever again.
yikes!)
First, thanks for the welcome.
Second, I wish you would take the time to read the CICN news letter.
http://www.castironcollector.com/CICN/cicn12.php
RESTORING CAST IRON COOKWARE - part 2
A wire wheel, mounted on a bench grinder or other suitable motor, works well under most conditions. The bigger the wheel and more powerful the motor the better but a 6" wheel and ¼ HP motor are fine. You can even use an electric drill with a wire brush although it will be slow going. For areas where a large wire wheel won't get, try a cup brush in an electric drill, useful especially for inside muffin pan cups. Some rust is very hard to remove, but if you flip the wire wheel over occasionally it will act as if it had been sharpened and cut the rust faster.
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Steve's newsletters need to be viewed in their historical context. They contain a vast amount of valuable information, but also illustrate how far the hobby has come in the interim. Electrolysis and lye have been embraced (thankfully) as non-destructive and, for all intents and purposes, safe methods in the hands of even relatively inexperienced restorers of vintage CI. The goal in all that which is recommended present day is with an eye toward not seeing the inexperienced do damage to collectible vintage CI. The use of abrasives such as wire wheels and other power tools is therefore no longer recommended. There are those who may still use those tools but who also know how and "when to say when" and not do harm. But, in the interest of not having those who don't know better doing damage, those methods are no longer recommended by the CI collecting community at large, and have not been for many years.