Cleaning 'galvanized' Iron ?

D

D_Madden

Well-known member
I have run into a couple of different pieces and 'galvanized' iron doesn't seem to be a topic covered on this site. I have a couple of Griswold meat grinders that appear to be galvanized with a dull appearance... is there a method for shining them up so they remain shiny or is the dull oxidized zinc look the best. I've seen some articles talk about waxing the galvanized surfaces with the old paste wax or carnuba wax. any thoughts?

also, I bought this sad little j. savery's son & co kettle... it had been painted black so I had no idea about the galvanized finish, fortunately I put it in the etank first... and when the paint was removed the zinc coating appeared to be fairly good condition... I still have rust on the inside to deal with... but any thoughts on the correct process for the outside?
https://imgur.com/gallery/NGXMpeF
 
Griswold catalogs describe their food choppers' cast parts as being "doubly coated with pure block tin". In catalogs where their tea kettles were noted as being supplied tinned "unless galvanized is specified", there is no mention of such an option for food choppers.
 
Galvanized metal is toxic so it wouldn't be used on anything for food processing. Could it be Zinc coated instead?
 
As noted above, Griswold produced galvanized tea kettles. Also consider galvanized steel livestock troughs.
 
BarryL said:
Galvanized metal is toxic so it wouldn't be used on anything for food processing. Could it be Zinc coated instead?
Click to expand...

my understanding of the term 'galvanized' is that it is always a 'zinc' coating... there are different methods of doing it, but it seems to always involve zinc.

---------- Post added at 04:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 PM ----------
Doug D. said:
Griswold catalogs describe their food choppers' cast parts as being "doubly coated with pure block tin". In catalogs where their tea kettles were noted as being supplied tinned "unless galvanized is specified", there is no mention of such an option for food choppers.
Click to expand...

I guess I assumed these were galvanized, as there are visible drips in spots (like a hot dip galvanized item) and if you scrape on the 'drips' the result is a somewhat soft metal that is very shiny. there was rust in a couple of spots, specifically where the 'coating' appears to have been worn or scratched off.

https://imgur.com/gallery/R3OKU9b
 
Tinning by hot dipping is also possible. Tin melts at a relatively low temp, so the process would not be very complicated, and would likely also leave artifacts like drips.
 
Doug D. said:
Tinning by hot dipping is also possible. Tin melts at a relatively low temp, so the process would not be very complicated, and would likely also leave artifacts like drips.
Click to expand...

ok, I'll buy that. any advice for cleaning and restoration for 'tinned' pieces?

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

just saw this little tidbit on the tinning wiki page:

For many purposes, tinplate has been replaced by galvanised (zinc-coated) vessels, though not for cooking as zinc is toxic, where stainless steel is often used.

Zinc protects iron electrolytically, that is, the zinc will oxidise and turn to a white powder to preserve the iron, whereas tin will only protect the iron if the tin-surface remains unbroken, as it electrolytically cannibalises unprotected iron to preserve itself.
this might explain the odd rusted spot on one of the meat grinders.
 
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