Last June I saw a this pan on CL in Green Bay. I'm 90 miles away but my sister lived close so she looked at it for me. The seller wanted $50 in his ad but he didn't say it had a repair done to it. My sister thought it looked like it was braised in his dark garage. I wanted it for cooking over the fire pit so the repair didn't bother me. I offered $30 and he accepted. I had carpal tunnel surgery to both of my hands in June so I couldn't lift the pan. When my sister brought the pan over, she put it in my gas grill for me.
Before cleaning
This is what happened to the repair after burning the seasoning off. It must have been Bondo or rock putty or something! Welding cast iron is way above my skill level so I took it to a local welder/machine shop. The welder had to grind a piece of cast iron to fit the missing chip. It also cracked on him so he had to repair the new crack as well. It cost $50 for the repair.
There is a little wave to the wall but it won't hinder my use of the pan.
I looked at myself as being a little foolish for putting $80 in a pan that is repaired. You can buy pans of this size from Cabelas for less. money. I posted this pan on a cast iron page on Facebook and found out it is a Lodge pan from the 1940s. I was told that a pan like this without a repair is worth $150-$175. Some thought I could even get my money back even with the repair because it is old quality cast iron.
It is now repaired stripped and seasoned. The nickel weld didn't darken like the cast iron but I thinks after using it on the fire for a while will take care of that. It is very a very course casting so the cooking surface will hopefully improve with use.
This pan will be used this Saturday over the fire to make pancakes for my children and grandchildren, and hopefully some panfish for supper! The floor of the pan is 18 1/2" and it weighs 19llbs 4 oz. I can't wait!
Before cleaning
This is what happened to the repair after burning the seasoning off. It must have been Bondo or rock putty or something! Welding cast iron is way above my skill level so I took it to a local welder/machine shop. The welder had to grind a piece of cast iron to fit the missing chip. It also cracked on him so he had to repair the new crack as well. It cost $50 for the repair.
There is a little wave to the wall but it won't hinder my use of the pan.
I looked at myself as being a little foolish for putting $80 in a pan that is repaired. You can buy pans of this size from Cabelas for less. money. I posted this pan on a cast iron page on Facebook and found out it is a Lodge pan from the 1940s. I was told that a pan like this without a repair is worth $150-$175. Some thought I could even get my money back even with the repair because it is old quality cast iron.
It is now repaired stripped and seasoned. The nickel weld didn't darken like the cast iron but I thinks after using it on the fire for a while will take care of that. It is very a very course casting so the cooking surface will hopefully improve with use.
This pan will be used this Saturday over the fire to make pancakes for my children and grandchildren, and hopefully some panfish for supper! The floor of the pan is 18 1/2" and it weighs 19llbs 4 oz. I can't wait!