Restoring my dad's cast iron

Skims_Smokehouse

Last year, my dad passed, and I have his cast iron.  Most of it is modern lodge, but there was this one pan that was obviously old.  I couldn't tell what kind it was because it was covered in layers and layers of carbonized seasoning from decades of use. The seasoning was clearly flaking and there were some sticky spots.  I really wanted to strip it and re-season it.  

After much internet googling and video watching, the process I settled on was as follows:
Strip it with Easy Off: Heavy Duty
Re-season it with Crisco

Note: Don't strip your iron unless you plan to immediately start the very long seasoning process.  You could have a lump of rust on your hands.

Stripping 

I followed safety guidelines very closely here. Easy Off is lye, and lye will melt your skin.

Repeat until all black carbon is gone:
Coat very liberally with Easy Off 
Store in garbage bag for 4-6 hours (or over night)
Rinse off in a 50/50 vinegar water bath in the sink
Scrub with Steal Wool

This basically took all weekend.

Re-seasoning

I chose Crisco vegetable shortening.  It's a known quality for seasoning cast iron.

After 50/50 vinegar bath, rinse and dry completely.  
Place a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom rack of the oven

Repeat This 3x
Put the pan upside down on the middle rack.
Turn on the oven and let it preheat to 200F.
After 15 minutes, remove the pan and apply a thick layer of shortening on every surface of the pan
Wipe off the excess as much as possible (lint free, blue shop towels are great for this)
Place back into the oven and heat to 300F.
After 15 more minutes, remove from oven and wipe off any more excess seasoning that may have sweated out
Place back into the oven and heat to 450F.
After 2 hours, turn off the oven and let everything cool down to room temperature.

I am extremely happy with the results.  The only thing I cooked in it so far was some eggs (and I did that this morning).

Old Iron

After I stripped my dad's pan, I learned that it is a pre-1960 Wagner Sidney -0- 10 inch skillet.  I don't know where he got it.  I wish I did now.  I have no way of knowing if this pan was past to him or he just picked it up at a flea market.

For cast iron aficionados out there, this pan is both a spinner and has a hairline fracture.  However, it's still useable.  I have a gas stove, so the spinning part doesn't affect it at all (the food doesn't slide to the side).  The fracture I was a bit sad about upon discovery.  I have another skillet I can use for frying.

Langner91

Nice Pan!  Nice work!  I lost all of my old Cast Iron.  So, I like to live vicariously.

Where's the crack located?

Skims_Smokehouse

Langner91 said:

Nice Pan!  Nice work!  I lost all of my old Cast Iron.  So, I like to live vicariously.

Where's the crack located?

Thanks! 

The crack is located to the left of the handle.  I had no idea it was there when I started, so buyer beware when buying used iron.  I understand that hitting the pan with your knuckle should produce a long ring tone on good iron.

rekameohs

Looks very nice, but I would have avoided all the chemicals and just used a sander to take it down to bare metal.