Old School, Lost Arts (1 Viewer)

[rusty_tlc]

Need to be very careful with this, as the electro will "pit" the iron--very bad for your skillet if you want it to be a dedicated "egg pan", But for most other uses, it would work fine(especially cobblers and pies)

You hit the cooking surfaces with a wire cup and an angle grinder to smooth them down, usually the pitting is shallow.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Need to be very careful with this, as the electro will "pit" the iron--very bad for your skillet if you want it to be a dedicated "egg pan", But for most other uses, it would work fine(especially cobblers and pies)

You hit the cooking surfaces with a wire cup and an angle grinder to smooth them down, usually the pitting is shallow.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Need to be very careful with this, as the electro will "pit" the iron--very bad for your skillet if you want it to be a dedicated "egg pan", But for most other uses, it would work fine(especially cobblers and pies)

You hit the cooking surfaces with a wire cup and an angle grinder to smooth them down, usually the pitting is shallow.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I'm not a fan of their rough bottoms. I prefer the smooth gris or the older Wagners

Swell if you can find them, if not you make do with what you can find.

 

[sggoat]

I would think it's a pipe dream to think that cast iron gives more even temperatures than aluminum. The thermal conductivity of the latter is way higher IIANM, so the temperature with alum will be much more even than with cast iron, everything else the same. Not much wiggle room there unfortunately.

Aluminum transfers heat much more quickly than cast iron(Al = 205, Cast Iron= 55)--if there are any casting flaws(and there will be) you end up with hot spots. Cast will not do this as it's coefficient of heat transfer is much lower(as you said)(read-gives the pan more time to come to an even temp as heat is added)---and yes, cast iron can have voids in it too, but with the lower heat transfer, they don't seem to affect the outcome of the food as much.
The other advantage is you don't get all that Al junk migrating into your food--with the iron pans if you did get migration, --it's iron(geritol--an essential element)
I've not seen an Al DO surviving a dunk in hot coals(bottom AND top), without severe warping(or actually burning through)-saw this happen once to an Al DO), the next neighbor's DO was an old Lodge that they were making a cobbler in--it survived just fine) Admittantly, I only have this one experience to go on, plus the writings of more experienced guides and hunters than me. It does seem to make more sense, though, given the transfer rates--all this is just my .02

 

[sggoat]

Swell if you can find them, if not you make do with what you can find.

I have a couple smaller iron pans that I found at garage sales, etc. They were the rough bottomed ones. I tried to use your method to get the bottoms smooth, but was unsuccessful. They still had pits. I use them only for small saute-ing, like peppers, etc. They do cook ok for that. Can't seem to get a grinder in there flat enough to get the surface smooth. oh well, like you said make do----you can still make a mean pot-pie in them--

 

[sggoat]

My son and I were having the same discussion, sometimes it's faster to use a hand plane to knock down a corner than Set up a router. He is a finish carpenter and uses hand tools in favor of power tools frequently.

I would say it's ALWAYS faster--it's also more authentic, and much more controllable.---Plus--NO DUST! If I were remodeling, I would hope I could find someone like him to do the work.

 

[danthman114]

making your own bows and arrows with what you find out in the "wilderness". a stick bow with hand made arrows including knapped points can kill a deer every bit as well as a modern machine made bow. been doing it since the ice age...

 

[canman]

making your own bows and arrows with what you find out in the "wilderness". a stick bow with hand made arrows including knapped points can kill a deer every bit as well as a modern machine made bow. been doing it since the ice age...

After doing some volunteer work in Africa, my sister was given this bow and some arrows which were made and used by children in preparation for the real thing.

 

[sggoat]

Amazing how straight those arrows are-and they're not the real thing?-but then they HAVE to be---

 

[rusty_tlc]

Amazing how straight those arrows are-and they're not the real thing?-but then they HAVE to be---

Most places have some native plant that has naturally straight stalks/limbs. The method I've found in researching is to harvest them green then bundle them together until they dry. Once dried they can be fine tuned with a little heat from a fire and some bending. I've actually played around with that and it's amazing how straight you can get a stick just heating and bending it.

 

[danthman114]

Most places have some native plant that has naturally straight stalks/limbs. The method I've found in researching is to harvest them green then bundle them together until they dry. Once dried they can be fine tuned with a little heat from a fire and some bending. I've actually played around with that and it's amazing how straight you can get a stick just heating and bending it.

its good to add alittle animal fat to the wood when heating. also, i have a straightener made out of a piece of oak with a hole drilled in it. you can use antler like the natives did...

 

[rusty_tlc]

I've found flake blades with a notch in them that I assume were used to smooth the shafts. Every once in a while we come across and old rock blind with a lot of flakes around it.

 

[danthman114]

I've found flake blades with a notch in them that I assume were used to smooth the shafts. Every once in a while we come across and old rock blind with a lot of flakes around it.

they smoothed the shafts many different ways but the one i keep reading about is on rocks with a round notch. like sand stone. its basically a formed sanding block...

 

[freepowder]

Most places have some native plant that has naturally straight stalks/limbs. <snip>

Red willow in the Rockies.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I've been reading about making lye from wood ash. I think it would be kind of cool to make my own lye, render my own lard and make my own soap. My sister makes and sells soap, she could walk me through the soap making part.

 

[freepowder]

Never made soap but as I recall lye soap was supposed to be wicked harsh.

 

[danthman114]

it is if there too much lye. lye and water = chemical burn. another way to obtain soap out in the "wild" is from yucca. the root and the long pointy leaves have a natural soap in them. the root is the best but it kills the entire plant but you can get alot of coordage tho'

 

[rusty_tlc]

Never made soap but as I recall lye soap was supposed to be wicked harsh.

I use lye soap every day, my sister makes it. Way gentler than the chemicals in your standard deodorant soap if you know what you are doing.

 

[rusty_tlc]

it is if there too much lye. lye and water = chemical burn. another way to obtain soap out in the "wild" is from yucca. the root and the long pointy leaves have a natural soap in them. the root is the best but it kills the entire plant but you can get alot of coordage tho'

There are a number of plants that can be used as a natural soap.