Not Your Typical Question... Does anyone here have experience sanding the bumps out of cast iron cookware?

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Does anyone here have experience sanding the bumps out of cast iron cookware?

Mr. SONY Loc: LI, NY

Dremel tool.
Followed by lots of sanding with a palm sander.
If you have the patience, you can make the pan smooth as glass.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Mr. SONY wrote:

Dremel tool.
Followed by lots of sanding with a palm sander.
If you have the patience, you can make the pan smooth as glass.

Thanks for your response. What about sanding discs on a drill? Bad idea? I have a ton of cast iron that was left by the previous owner of my home, a couple of 12" skillets, a couple of 10" deep set skillets, I also have a couple of really old 10" skillets that I inherited from my mom that were milled to be as smooth as glass, it makes me crazy that the newer skillets were so poorly finished.

RiJoRi Loc: Sandy Ridge, NC

If they were poorly finished, I wonder if they were meant to be solely decorative? If so, then the company might decide to not spend the money to finish something that will never be seen?

Just a thought,
--Rich

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

RiJoRi wrote:

If they were poorly finished, I wonder if they were meant to be solely decorative? If so, then the company might decide to not spend the money to finish something that will never be seen?

Just a thought,
--Rich

No, fifty years ago cast iron was milled smooth, today's cast iron has a rough surface. A little oil in the bottom of a smooth pan and they are as good if not better than the non-stick pans of today and they are about impossible to damage.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

Rich… Vintage cast iron tends to have a satiny smooth finish. By the 1950s, as production scaled up and was streamlined, this final polishing step was dropped from the process. The result? Modern cast iron retains that bumpy, pebbly surface.

The difference is more minor than you may think. So long as you've seasoned your pan properly, both vintage and modern cast iron should take on a nice non-stick surface, but your modern cast iron will never be quite as non-stick as the vintage stuff. Bon Appetite!

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Blurryeyed wrote:

.... What about sanding discs on a drill? Bad idea? ...

I would think a random orbit sander would be preferable.

Mr. SONY Loc: LI, NY

Blurryeyed wrote:

Thanks for your response. What about sanding discs on a drill? Bad idea? I have a ton of cast iron that was left by the previous owner of my home, a couple of 12" skillets, a couple of 10" deep set skillets, I also have a couple of really old 10" skillets that I inherited from my mom that were milled to be as smooth as glass, it makes me crazy that the newer skillets were so poorly finished.

A sanding disk on a drill would work just fine.
An orbital sander would be better if you were sanding some fine quality sanding on let's say, a car or wood.
A cast iron skillet isn't.
I looked at some cast iron skillets at William Sonoma make in France and compared them to the big US manufacture
and they are so much nicer. Smooth!
But you pay for that quality. $$$$$

You're not going to hurt the cast iron so have at it.
Post some pictures.
Yes, I've sanded some cast iron myself.
That's how I know.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

Blurryeyed wrote:

Does anyone here have experience sanding the bumps out of cast iron cookware?

Easier to buy Antique cast iron than to try to smooth out the modern crap!!

AtomicZ Loc: Bucks County, Pa.

Manglesphoto wrote:

Easier to buy Antique cast iron than to try to smooth out the modern crap!!

I used the flap type sanding disk on a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder. Works great.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

AtomicZ wrote:

I used the flap type sanding disk on a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder. Works great.

To each his own!!
I stand by my statement!! Been there, done that Not worth the work and mess

Bayou

It's not just bumps, there are holes, too, in modern cast iron. There's no sanding those out. They can be filled, though, by proper seasoning.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Blurryeyed wrote:

What about sanding discs on a drill?

Sounds good to me. There are red disks that are very good. I forget the details. Maybe 3M, maybe mesh.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Funny coincidence. Did anyone notice the ad for hand hammered woks at the bottom of this post?

Stan

Wasabi

StanMac wrote:

Funny coincidence. Did anyone notice the ad for hand hammered woks at the bottom of this post?

Stan

Not coincidence. The ads usually follow the topics, except for the girls in tee shirts. 'They' are listening.