Wagner aluminum cornstick pan #458

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Hey guys,
1. Is this worth $18?

2. Would I shoot myself in the head from the frustration of cleaning it? Ha!

I've cleaned a couple of aluminum pieces using automotive sandpaper. It was a pain, but kinda fun. And the results were beautiful. I read about blasting an aluminum cornstick pan with walnut shells, but I'm fresh out of walnut shells and I don't have a blaster. Is it possible to sand this thing?

[Jeff Friend]

My thought is that if you sand it, you are going to significantly alter the surface and the pan will never look "right" again.  If you want it to be shiny, but keep the sand cast texture, you could use 0000 steel wool and WD-40.  Or, you could use the tartaric acid method.

I probably wouldn't give $18 for it, but if you want an aluminum corn stick pan to use, I suppose that is a reasonable price.  If it was for sale on eBay, it might never sell.  There just isn't that much interest in Wagner aluminum Juniors.

I have a small blast cabinet with walnut shell media.  It is a great way to save your fingers when cleaning waffle irons and gem pans.

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Thanks. I bought it. Cleaning them is half the fun. And I like the challenge. Ha! (... as an ultra runner friend of mine likes to say, "you don't have to be having fun, to be having fun.)


How hard is it to set up a blast cabinet? Is it something you can buy at Home Depot?

[John Arsenault]

Spurgeon,
 try http://www.northerntool.com/ or  http://www.harborfreight.com/#

John A

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

I'll check those out. Thanks!

BTW - would sodium bicarbonate work? Tonight I found our warehouse manager has a blaster. He said he has used sodium bicarbonate before on aluminum parts. Of course, he just wants the crud off and doesn't care what they look like.

[Cheryl Watson]

http://www.wagnerandgriswold.org/Attachments/CR1289573145.pdf

[Cheryl Watson]

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1393982431/2#2

Scroll down a bit......

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Thank you, Cheryl!

[Jeff Friend]

The key is having an air compressor that is up to the task.  I like walnut shells because they don't make a mess and can be used for a long time.

[Tom Neitzel]

My first question is why would you be thinking of cleaning this piece.  Looks like a quick trip through a soap and water rinse is all it needs.

With an aluminum piece like this, I start with the self-cleaning oven.  Then a quick rinse and polish with 0000 steel wool.  That's usually all it takes.

Just aluminum parts in the oven, handles and bails are removed.  If not possible, then other methods come in to use.