Rough casting Erie

[LGebhardt]

My wife apparently found this 20 years ago at a flea market right before we moved. It got boxed up with some Wagners 1891, that we didn't like, when we moved and we never really looked at since. I had the idea to machine the Wagners and see if I could make them decent. I was surprised to find the piece my wife bought, though she remembered buying it.

I put it all in the oven on the self clean cycle and burned all the pealing seasoning off. I was surprised to see a very faint Erie stamp that was hidden before. I seasoned it and found the skillet cooked really well. So much nicer than the newer cast iron I had set out to save ever did (but I haven't machined it smooth yet). So I set out to find out about this Erie brand and was surprised to find it's collectible.

However my skillet doesn't really look like most of the Erie pieces I see pictured here. It looks more primitive in some ways. I'm not sure if it's an early piece, a replica cast from an existing piece, or some other story. Any ideas?

 

[LGebhardt]

And three more images.

 

[John E]

Certainly looks like someone used an Erie skillet as a pattern and recast their own pan. It's not collectible, but it doesn't surprise me that it cooks much better than the Wagner 1891's.

 

[LGebhardt]

Thanks. Was that a common thing to do? Was this a backyard type thing, or were there a bunch of small foundries that did this for profit? The skillet was purchased in south eastern Ontario if that makes any difference.

---------- Post added at 09:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 AM ----------

Looks like this was covered on this page: http://www.castironcollector.com/fakes.php

Also occasionally seen are what are known as "recasts". A recast is the result of an actual skillet or other piece-- as opposed to a pattern-- being used to create a mold to cast a pan. While some may just be the product of an individual trying their hand at metalworking, there are also those produced with the intent to deceive. Recasts typically suffer from poor casting quality, with obvious casting flaws, size and weight disrepancies, and artifacts of the casting process not in keeping with the technology of the manufacturer of the original (primarily gate marks).

Well at least I won't worry about using a valuable item to cook bacon. In a way that's kind of nice. And I like the idea of someone copying their Mom's skillet in the back yard.

 

[Doug D.]

In actuality, it's unlikely that someone would have had a blast furnace out back of the house. Even the recasts we see with gate marks required access to industrial level resources. This particular one was likely by an individual who worked in a foundry, but just one that didn't happen to make cookware.