Cleaning old equipment

[hanifen]

Anyone have a grand idea how to clean up an OLD OLD sausage stuffer/lard press that was sitting around for several years. The gears all work fine but the main part where the sausage would go needs some work. I was think first a wire brush and then maybe sand paper then soap and water? by the way it is made of cast iron.

So any comments would be welcome - Not even sure it is worth the effort.

Thanks,

 

[deejaydebi]

What's it made of ... old old cast iron? Then get hold of a glass bead blaster and it'll look like new. Sand blast if it's fine sand probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[mohntr]

Hanifen did you ever get it cleaned up? I recently bought an old 6 qt enterprise stuffer. I sandblasted it and it cleaned up nicely. I painted the cylinder on the outside, and just oiled the rest of it. It looks very nice.

 

[tsulcoski]

Hanifen
I would start by taking it to a high pressure car wash. Aside from sandblasting its going to take a whole lot of elbow grease. When you oil it, make sure you are using food grade mineral oil.
good luck

 

[crazzycajun]

If It Has Rust And Other Interesting Critters Treat It Like A Cast Iron Cook Wear Pour Coke A Cola In It It Will Fiizz And Foam Let It Setfor A While Couple Hours Or Days Depending On How Bad It Is Then Wash And Put In Oven Or Atop Stove To Dry And Season It With Food Grade Oil Much Like Cast Iron Cookware Look At Seasoning Cast Iron For A Detailed Description Of The Above But Coke Will Take Care Of Rust And About Anything Else Without A Lot Elbow Grease

 

[t-bone tim]

your best bet is probably what dee-jay said ,have it glass beaded,does less damage to the surface than sand,then coat with a food grade grease,or lard probably would do it .

 

[peculiarmike]

Hanifen,

Check this out - http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

It tells you how to remove rust, grime, grease, etc. from cast iron and other metals using electrolysis. Very simple procedure, I have used it. Besides this smoking hobby I play with antique engines (and bass fish, ride my Harley, collect and shoot guns, build water features, couple other things).
I am restoring a 1930 Maytag washer engine. I cleaned the cast iron fuel tank this way and it took it down to bare metal. It was covered with a heavy layer of oil/grease mixed with dirt and paint under that.

Might be what you are looking for. Never know.

 

[hanifen]

Thanks for all the hints. I started working on it and have it mostly cleaned up. I just simply used a wire brush attachment for my drill and got it nice and shiney. I talked to a woman on the internet who specializes in cast iron cookware and she has me seasoning the inside parts and then painting the outside parts. Its looking great and will let you all know how it goes when finished.

 

[hanifen]

Ok I am done cleaning it now...yeaaaaaaa So for those of you wondering here is what I did.

I spent about 7 hours working on it with wire brush attachments on my drill. Got the thing shining nice. Then I washed it good with hot hot hot water. Finally with the thing fully taken apart I rubbed each piece good with crisco and baked it in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees. When it came out I let it cool a little and then wiped it down. It now looks great. it is seasoned like a cast iron skillet and should not be prone to rust. I think after the first couple times I use it I will reseason it but after that it should be good to go.

This thing is probably around 100 or so years old and is made to last. I can not wait to use it for the first time in 2 weeks.

 

[cajun_1]

Peculiarmike...When I saw this post it never dawned on me, I use the process on all the used cast iron I buy, find,etc. Have it set up in the corner outside my garage. Thanks for the post.

 

[Dutch]

Yeppers, I use this method too, reminds me that I need to reassemble my unit. Took it apart when I moved over a year ago and never got around to setting it back up. Got friends calling me to rescue their neglected cast iron. Think this time I'm gonna charge 'em extra. Seems like they just don't want to take care of it properly!!

 

[cajun_1]

Yep...they want that cast iron for the way it cooks, but refuse to keep them in good condition. I'd charge them extra fer sure. I like to get "bad" items, people thinking they got away with selling me an old peice of junk. I showed 1 peice I bought from a yard seller one day, they were totally suprized, wanted to buy it back. 3 times the amount I paid. I still own the peice.

 

[Dutch]

It's amazing what the electo-bath will do for cast iron. I pulled an old cast iron griddle out of a neighbors scrap pile and ran it through a couple of bath cycles and reseasoned it like 5-6 times so that it had that nice shiney deep black finish. Gave it back to 'em as a Christmas gift later that year-the neighbor's wife was impressed that I'd give them an antique heirloom piece of cast iron. It's been about 8 years now and I still don't think they have realized that it was their griddle to begin with!

 

[cajun_1]

Little time consuming, but well worth time time for the results.