Wapak Waffle Iron base fingerprints?

[Tom Neitzel]

I'm in the process of cleaning up a Wapak high base waffle iron.  I'm always a sucker for an odd hinge and this is one.  Now I'm not talking with a broad brush, but it seems that Wapak was not concerned about the finish on some of their products.  Casting flaws, flow lines, just not the smoothest finsih, but the item would do it's job.

After about 6 hours in EvapoRust, I was rinsing the base and noticed some flash rust in some slightly low spots inside the base.  I've not seen anything like them bofore.  Got me thinking.

I grabbed the iron to look at the top and noticed that the spots lined up pretty well with my fingertips.  Hmmm.

Looking at the socket, you can see that the pattern for this piece was applied after the outside of the base had been molded.

It looks to me like the molder accidentally held the inside of the mold, maybe while applying the socket.  I think what I have left is the imprint of his fingertips.

Interesting no matter what.  I'll post some pictures of the finished iron when done.

By the way, does anyone know what this hinge/socket is called?  I think of it as a barrel.

Tom

[Jeff Friend]

Tom,

When you say the hinge socket was applied, do you mean that it was cast as a separate piece, placed in a special spot in the sand mold, and then the ring part of the base was poured?  Or that there were two patterns used to make the sand mold for the entire base?  It looks to me like the foundry (even Wapak) should have been able to pour that base in one piece with one pattern.  Let's have a picture of the inside of the base where the hinge socket is located.

On the fingerprints, I am going to suggest that maybe someone with greasy fingers grabbed the base before the japanning was applied.  What about that?

Jeff

[Tom Neitzel]

Jeff, that''s a sloppy choice of words on my part regarding applied.  What I intended is that I felt it was that the mold making process likely needed a separate pattern for the socket.  I'll finish cleaning it today and put up more pictures and we can decide.

As far as the japanning, I didn't find any evidence of japanning on the base, although that's common on the waffle iron bases.  Maybe someone has a Wapak catalog that will tell us.  The marks are slightly below the surface of the rest of the iron.  I suppose they could have etched that way if there was no japanning.  No matter what, it seems a bit of carelessness, or working too fast, at the foundry.

Tom

[Tom Neitzel]

Here are some pictures of the finished iron.  You might see a gold like color on the paddles.  It is not as pronounced as it looks in the pictures.  Some kind of lighting and finish artifact.

I'm going to start another thread for Jeff.  After getting it clean and back together I think that the socket was indeed cast separately and added to the mold for the base.

There is more than one story on this base.

It seems this is called a barrel hinge.  This WAPAK iron won't win any beauty contests, but the iron will certainly do what it is supposed.

Tom

p.s.  Remember if you click on an image it will pop up larger.