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I'm in the process of restoring a badly neglected Griswold No. 8 waffle iron (885 886 if it makes any difference). I've got all of the cast iron parts stripped down and re-seasoned and just started working on the badly rusted Alaskan coil handles. I got the majority of the rust off with a long carbonic acid bath and some light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper, but found some unexpected bright areas that almost look like the remains of hot galvanization:

Griswold handles

I'd like to give them an authentic finish, but I can't find any information as to what the factory finish (if any) was on the handles. Does anyone know if they were galvanized, or if not, how they were finished?

Community
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Comintern
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    FYI, we generally handle equipment questions more about the actual cooking aspects of the equipment, so there might not be a lot of knowledge about things like this around here. There's some discussion on meta: http://meta.cooking.stackexchange.com/q/2141/1672 – Cascabel Dec 18 '15 at 15:44
  • @Jefromi - responded on meta. – Comintern Dec 18 '15 at 18:46

2 Answers2

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If you are trying to obtain an even color, you can paint them with 'Stove Black' which is great for unpainted cast iron and raw metal that will get a lot of heat. It will give you a dull matt finish and can develop a nice patina. I would not put any on the waffle iron part where food will touch.

Jenny Kee
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They were probably originally galvanized, and you might find somewhere locally that will dip them for you for a few bucks.

As an alternative you might oil them up and season them like the rest of the waffle iron. You're not looking for a "perfect" coating like the cooking surface, but just enough of a coating to prevent rust. If it doesn't work out you could easily strip them down and have them galvanized.

gnicko
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