Janin Won an Auction Continued...Pan by Pan...

J

Janin Hendry

Member
for those that do not read intros, I am Janin Hendry. Winner of some cast iron at an auction. Below is what I won. and I am going to post piece-by-piece the restoration of each. It will take a while. I work and am very busy around this. I do love cast iron though, so to do each piece justice I want to take the time to clean them right. I am starting with the more simple pieces first as while I know electrolysis is the ultimate way to clean difficult pieces, I have weird space to work with and spoken for funds for set up.
1717954152986.jpeg
1717954178130.jpeg
Here is the first piece I have touched: The first two pictures are it stripped in a lye-vinegar bath and the second two are it cleaned and seasoned.
1717954315920.jpeg
1717954350196.jpeg
1717954367565.jpeg
Identifying marks include the raised outer edge on the bottom, the size of "3", which from reading on this forum fits the correct slot in antique stoves and a Y Followed by what I think is a decimal point of sorts, which can indicate the the mold used. There is also an 11, under the Y which I don't really understand. Anything else anyone sees? Any guesses about any of it?
 
No guesses necessary. It's an early 3-notch Lodge. The Y and the dot are molder's marks, the dot being perhaps unintentional. The two hash marks are probably some kind of pattern identifier, as they would be in the pattern, not made by the molder. "Lye-vinegar" bath?

Most 20th century unmarked pieces can be identified using the link below, also in the drop-down menu above:

Unmarked Cast Iron Cookware Identification - The Cast Iron Collector: Information for The Vintage Cookware Enthusiast

The Cast Iron Collector: Information for the Vintage Cookware Enthusiast. Learn how to identify unmarked 20th century cast iron cookware.
www.castironcollector.com www.castironcollector.com
 
That is what I was thinking, though the dot was confusing me. I say lye-vinegar bath as I was hitting it with oven cleaner then dipping it in white vinegar for about a half hour to remove rust. This piece had very light surface rust, so my goal was to lift it off then strip it down to the base
and reseason. The bath became an almost mixture of lie and vinegar as a result. Seems to have worked well for this piece. What does very early mean?
 
The initial photo of the pan looks like it may have been stripped before and not necessarily seasoned; I see only slight rust and lye is not called for as it does nothing to remove rust, only cooking build-up. Lye being very caustic (extremely alkaline) and vinegar being acidic would tend to neutralize each other.

See the Lodge section of the supplied link to see where this marking of a 3-notch Lodge falls.
 
The rust was very light, so a lot of my thinking was to strip and go. From what I am reading on the page you sent me, this piece is either from the early 60s as there is no "Made in USA" anywhere on it, small pour spouts and what may be an "11" quality control number. I could also be from the 40s as the numbers and letters are not super well formed.
 
That is my guess, the handle makes me think so as well. It is also very smooth after I reseasoned it. I have some lodge from the early thousands or later and I can see why other places say to take a sander to them. There is a very noticeable quality difference. Thank you for your help with this. Does it take up much space to set up electrolysis? My space is weird and I know I will need to get it going for more seriously rusted pieces.
 
Basic space is a plastic trash can big enough for your largest skillet to not touch the sides and room for a battery charger.

See some pictures here: https://www.castironcollector.com/f...gevity-and-when-to-change-it.9509/#post-54677

I need to replace my trash can since it got really cold last winter and things froze, creating a crack in the bottom of my trash can.

1st picture, lower right.... looks like a Skillet Griddle. Those are great for homemade tortillas.
 
I am looking into it. I have a trash can I can use, but weird space. Meaning I have the space, but I have had everything under construction or in process for years and keeping it clean or not needing to move it shortly, might be a problem.

I also will have problem with it freezing no matter where I put it a heat source has yet to be added to our pole barn-garage. I also need to ensure my husbands projects, bugs, and mice do not add themselves to my mixture even if it is closed up. 1718072967989.jpeg
1718072996435.jpeg
1718073014727.jpeg

Here are three I can actually see. I am enjoying each piece as I take it in my hand.
 
"I also will have problem with it freezing no matter where I put it a heat source has yet to be added to our pole barn-garage. I also need to ensure my husbands projects, bugs, and mice do not add themselves to my mixture even if it is closed up."

It got really cold for a spell here in northeast Oklahoma last winter. A quick overnight freeze is not a problem. If all you use is washing soda and water and don't clean stainless steel, you can dump it on the ground without being an environmental terrrorist. Or so I've been told.
 
I don't know if anyone can see in the photos, but I have a second pan cleaned mostly up like the last one. Same series, though this one appears to have had a grinder taken to part of its lip. Can anyone tell?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2468.jpg
    IMG_2468.jpg
    68.3 KB · Views: 21
  • IMG_2469.jpg
    IMG_2469.jpg
    56.9 KB · Views: 21
Scott J. said:
"I also will have problem with it freezing no matter where I put it a heat source has yet to be added to our pole barn-garage. I also need to ensure my husbands projects, bugs, and mice do not add themselves to my mixture even if it is closed up."

It got really cold for a spell here in northeast Oklahoma last winter. A quick overnight freeze is not a problem. If all you use is washing soda and water and don't clean stainless steel, you can dump it on the ground without being an environmental terrrorist. Or so I've been told.
Click to expand...
I will see about that. I hope to have most of my current batch clean before the cold weather comes. Hopefully, if I don't have too much work elsewhere.
 
When molten iron is poured into the casting, most times the molten iron will fill up the hole the iron was poured into. This leaves a stem, (runner) or what those of us who cast lead bullets refer to as a spew. The spew has to be removed after casting. Easily done with lead, but with cast iron, a little more difficult. Once the pan cools, the unwanted runner is ground off. What you are seeing is where the runner was ground off. As Doug said, the factory worker probably got a little too aggressive.
 
I love the little #3 Iron Mountain pans. I have two of them. Don't ask me why. Someday I might have more. Who knows.
 
I can only assume sprue got mistranslated somewhere along the line as spew. I've seen more than one BSR #14 with at least one pour lip ground to a point. Or worse. Maybe just too heavy to manage precisely against the grindstone. Second one I looked at on eBay just now:
1719239260216.png
 
What I am looking at is not the lip pour. it is between the lip pour and the handle. The wall of the pan is noticeably thinner in one spot. I am attaching what I hope is a better picture of it.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2490.jpg
    IMG_2490.jpg
    47.9 KB · Views: 14
That location on the rim would be a typical gating spot. It's been hit with a grinder, but not by the factory. Factory finishing marks left by grinding off the gate would be perpendicular to the rim of the pan. These are parallel, and those further down are as well. A previous owner used an inadvisable cleaning method.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top