This Old Pot......

[Junkman]

No I am not talking about Mike, but about the rusty pot that I pictured in another post. If you would like to read that one, it is called Rust and Cast Iron. Today, I decided to take on the challenge of cleaning this pot since the weather was on the warm side. I started by spraying the pot with oven cleaner on all surfaces. Please hold all questions until I finish the pictures posting (about 20+) and the text. I figure this might take as long as 2 hours. Thanks

 

[Junkman]

This is the bottom side before I had done any cleaning. This pot came from a flea market and has been waiting for the right day to be cleaned. Usually I won't work on one that is this bad, but I considered this one a challenge since it is a rare pot.... as far as pots go..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Junkman]

this is the first application of oven cleaner. I try to get a good coating the first time, but breathing in the fumes usually makes that a difficult task, that is why it is done outside.

 

[Junkman]

I use this wire hook to turn the pot over so I could spray the inside also. Since the post sits on a ring at the bottom, all surfaces are covered and cleaning is done at once.

 

[Junkman]

I am working as fast as I can.... as you can see, there is a lot to be cleaned....

 

[Junkman]

this is hard work... Here is the side of the pot where some old baked on crud has been exposed. This is then scrapped off using a kitchen knife with a serrated edge and a rounded point. It will come off easily with just some scrapping after the oven cleaner does its work.

 

[Junkman]

In this picture, you can see how hardened crud has been scrapped off along the center trim ring of the pot. I will then wash the pot with soap and water to make sure that I have gotten all the bad spots removed.

 

[Junkman]

This is the inside of the pot after it has been washed with dishwashing liquid and a scrubby. I have added some water to the pot and am now heating it on the stove so when I get to the next step, the metal will be warm. I don't know how long this is going to take at this point. The pot is in worse condition than I first expected......

 

[Junkman]

In the center of this picture, you can see the grey area where this pot is totally cleaned. To the left of this there is still some rust that will need to be worked on. This is a very rusty pot...

 

[Junkman]

OK ..... I am slow....... This is the bottom of the pot after the initial cleaning with oven cleaner. It still isn't clean enough for my standards.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Junkman]

Here the pot gets its second coating of oven cleaner. I am not making as much progress with this pot as I had hoped to. I am now into about 2 1/2 hours of cleaning time, not counting the amount of time that I was waiting for the oven cleaner to do its work.......

 

[Junkman]

This is the side trim ring after the second cleaning with the oven cleaner. The whole pot should look like the gray area when it is done. Not certain that I will be able to accomplish that. The rust is more difficult to remove than I have encountered in the past. This is the most difficult pot that I have ever worked on...

 

[Junkman]

Bottom side after the second cleaning and at this point, this is acceptable for the bottom surface. It isn't perfect, but once the final seasoning is done, no one will know the differance.

 

[Junkman]

This is the inside of the pot. As you can see this is deeply pitted and the pits are holding the rust. At this point, I broke out the heavy guns and used toilet bowl cleaner to remove the rust from the very worse of the pits. The toilet bowl cleaner is a acid and the oven cleaner is a alkali (lye), so as you can see, there are different ways to attack the problem. If I find that I don't get good results with the toilet bowl cleaner, then I will move onto using muriatic acid. The only problem with using acids other than the safety factor, is that they will also remove good metal along with the rust. For this reason, you have to be careful how long you keep it in contact with the cast iron. I have not worked on the sides of the pot very much yet, but I will continue on that tomorrow. The inside of the pot might require glass beading to get it to the point where it is ready for seasoning. All rust must be gone before seasoning, or the seasoning will not take very well.

 

[Junkman]

I decided to put some extra effort into the inside again and this is the final result for this evening. I have all the loose scale removed and the bottom is fairly flat at this point. Tomorrow I will use some emery paper to try to level some of the pits on the side of the pot. I might put it into the glass bead cabinet to see if that might help also. Since the pot was so badly pitted, I was afraid that there might be some pits that have broken through the wall of the pot, so I filled the pot with water and put it on the stove and brought it to a boil. If there were any pin holes, this would have exposed them and I would have seen weeping through the side. It appears that even though this pot is badly rusted and pitted, that after all this, it can once again be brought back to life and be used for cooking. Unfortunately the pits hurt the value of a pot to a collector, but for kitchen use, they will be of no consequence. I will post additional pictures as I do additional cleaning/restoration work to this. Stay tuned to "As the Pot Turns"...... Junk........ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobertN]

Would the electrolysis method using a battery charger work to loosen the rust?

In between steps, what do you do to prevent minor rust form happening?

You make a good point; too much contact with acid or base will eat the metal in addition to the rust. Will the bead blasting affect just the rust, or will it remove metal material too?

Curiously, you are putting a lot of work into this sample. How old is it, where was it made, ect? How much is it worth in the "rusty" state, and in the clean condition?

Looks like fun /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Junkman]

I have never tried the electrolysis method of rust removal, but I have heard of it. I usually don't worry about surface rust forming while working on a pot, because with 5 minutes of a Brillo pad, it is gone. It is the deep rust that has to be removed. The nice thing about doing glass bead blasting, it doesn't hurt the metal and will only remove the loose rust, but not damage the underlying material. I use it on the turbines of the turbo chargers when I rebuild them. Cleans without damage. This pot was made by the Griswold Company back in the 1930's and is considered a rare piece, but for some reason they don't have as much value as some of the other pieces. I checked on the value after purchasing this pot and was told that it was worth about $85 in good condition. I just did a Google search for some idea of value, but I couldn't find any. I did find a website that recommended using a solution of vinegar and water to remove rust..... I might try that in the morning. If I felt energetic, I could try to sand the pits out of the cast iron, but I don't know if I have enough years left to finish the job. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[daedong]

Junkman,

These pots are the best thing to cook in on an open fire, here in OZ we call them camp ovens. I use one every time i go camping they are great for cooking bread, cakes, stews etc.

 

[PhilNH5]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I did find a website that recommended using a solution of vinegar and water to remove rust..... I might try that in the morning )</font>
Junkman,
Vinegar is a very weak acid. I would expect it to be much less acidic than the toilet bowl cleaner you have already used. I don't think it will do much.
If you try it let us know how it works. And thanks for the photo story. Very interesting.

My neighbor once brought me a used cast iron griddle at a flea market. Had a nice black coating. I put it in the oven to burn this off. Stunk up the house. I can't prove it but I am sure that the piece had been "seasoned" with used motor oil to make it look nice. I threw it out. But if I knew about your oven cleaner trick I might have given it a try.

Phil

 

[alan40]

Hey Junkman up here we use a food grade acid on our syrup pans. It really cleans them up and is pretty cheap. Vinegar/water or lemon juice with water will work also. Boil it and then pour out that mixture. To ensure that the acid/vinegar is neutralized put water and baking soda in the pot. Boil it or just swish it around the pot real well. Rinse again. That will neutralize the remaining acid in the pot.
Good luck.