The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Cast Iron Pan Electrolysis Stripping

    Our cast iron pans need seasoning, so I decided to start with full-metal-jacket electrolysis stripping, rather than soaking them in oven cleaner / smogging the kitchen with the self-cleaning oven / actually doing any work. The electrolysis setup involves the big battery charger and a bucket of sodium carbonate solution:

    Cast iron pan electrolysis - setup
    Cast iron pan electrolysis – setup

    Although the charger has a 40 A capacity, the small pan bubbles along merrily at a self-limited 7 A:

    Cast iron pan electrolysis - bucket
    Cast iron pan electrolysis – bucket

    The anode is a big sheet of steel that was once an EMI shield in a big PC case. The side facing the pan corroded very quickly, but the outside remains in good shape and I think it’ll suffice for the medium and large pans.

    After two hours, only the crustiest bits of the crust remained:

    Cast iron pan electrolysis - 2 hours
    Cast iron pan electrolysis – 2 hours

    Those flakes fell right off after a few pokes from my demolition scraper; definite anticlimax, that.

    Another hour in the tank cleaned the handle and removed a few other spots; it now sports a layer of flash rust that’ll require another pass after I strip the other two pans…