re: I restored some old cast iron (pics)

I watched a youtube video of a guy doing this last night... lol

He used a laser to remove the rust though. I like you method more.

Nice Job!

I've used a 12V dc battery charger with washing soda for the electrolyte. When I added some borax the amps jumped up a good bit.

Could I use an old car battery that was going bad? Still over 12v.

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You can see some pitting in the pot but it's not a huge deal


Get yourself an orbital sander, 60 80 120 220.

Slowly run through the grits, it'll be smooth as glass.

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No reason to sand it smooth as glass. That pitting will not be a problem. Just start cooking.

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Could I use an old car battery that was going bad? Still over 12v.

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You could but depending on how big of a piece and how long you run it would probably kill the battery pretty fast. It would not stop discharging on its own till the battery is dead dead dead.

Wonder if you could hook the auto charger to the battery while doing this. Might error

I think you could as long as the amps were lower than the normal charger output. I've used regular automatic chargers and a battery as a power supply in this manner before.

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You can also use a lye bath, which I have done on 2 occasions with similar results.

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I recently did a few using Easy Off oven cleaner to get off the old seasoning. I sprayed the cast iron very thoroughly and stuck them in a garbage bag overnight. The next day I rinsed and scrubbed with a metal scrubber like a brillo minus the soap. I could have re-seasoned them at that point, but I was being picky and wanted the last bits of carbon off the pots so I did another spray and bagged them for a few hours. I then did another scrub and then a vinegar wash before seasoning them. The hardest part is to get them dry and rubbed down with oil before they rust. Flash rust is a real thing.