Tell me there ain't no money in old cast iron!

[Thumper]

I picked up a "hammered finish" Griswold last weekend at an estate sale for 40 bucks. I "think" I showed a pic of it here after I bought it. (?) Due to my Texas trip, I didn't have time to list it on The Bay. I'm ready to get some pics and get it listed, but thought I'd see what kind of money they're bringing. They're not all that common, so there aren't a whole lot of listings, but dang! This one just sold a few weeks ago for $430.22 plus shipping! I think I just might be able to turn a profit here! (I have the same persact pan with lid)

[HideHunter]

Wow.. that is Purdy.. Best of luck.

[Niner]

Here is a cast iron question. If you are gonna sell a piece that is all rusty from sitting around in the barn for years....

Is it better to leave it "as is", or is it better to "clean it up"? And if it is better to clean it up, how far should one go with that? Sanding off the rust and oiling it down? Totally "restoring" it with seasoning, etc?

The reason I ask is that I have an old cast iron dutch oven (with lid) out in my barn/garage that's been sitting out there for some time. I'm not even sure where or when we picked it up. If there's good $$$ in listing it on The Bay, then I guess I need to know how much cleaning, if any, I should do to it.

[Chicken Dinner]

I'd say you want to totally restore it if your intention is to sell it. Price really depend on who made it and how old it is. Hammered CI like Jim posted is pretty old stuff and highly valued by collectors. Don't sand it though. Google up "electrolysis tank" or check out the cast iron FB page. There's tins of good infotainment out there

[Thumper]

Many antiques actually decrease in value with restoration ... but with cast iron, the better it looks, the more $$$ it brings. First, you need to research what you have to see if it's even worth restoring. Just go to the SOLD side of eBay and see what your particular item is SELLING for ... NOT what people are asking for theirs. Huge difference that many people don't take into account. Like CD said, there are a bazillion articles and videos out there on how to restore them. Electrolysis is the big thing these days, but if you're not set up for it, I'm not sure how cost effective it would be to pay for the service. I always leave that up to the buyer if he wants to take it that far.

Just Google something like "How to restore rusty cast iron" or something similar and see which method you think would be appropriate for what you have ... and are willing to do. The main method I've seen for rust removal is to soak in a vinegar solution ... but don't OVER SOAK or you'll start eating into the cast iron itself. It's best to season it as you can advertise the fact it's seasoned and "ready to cook" ... but the option is to simply oil it down after cleaning.

Show us what you have!

[Niner]

Well here's a pic I took a while back looking down at the lid. I can take some more, but not until this storm moves out.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[Thumper]

Dang Niner ... it's hard to see in the pic, but for anyone else here, it says, Fair, Day & DeKlyne - Knoxville TN

I'm new to this game and still learning, but I've never heard of them and there is only one listing on eBay (sold or unsold) which was just for a frying pan lid (no pan) and sold for $46.00. I have no clue if you have something extremely rare ... or something that has little collector value! You can bet I'll be searching the net to learn about it though!

Here's the lid that sold on eBay in August (the ONLY listing I found):

[Chicken Dinner]

Check out this site:

http://www.castironcollector.com/foundries.php#

It could be pretty old. If it was me, I'd clean it up and keep it.

[Thumper]

I found a little bit of early Knoxville history that mentions the company, but I guess this was before DeKline joined the company. It's still a bit interesting. Man, it's really hard to come up with any hard info on that pot ... like I said above, either they are super rare ... or there's not much interest in the collector market. I'd sure clean it up and hang onto it until you can find out what persactly you have there as far as value is concerned.

This is early Knoxville history:

Fair, Day & DeKlyne's Foundry and Pattern shop, which is located on Jacksboro street beyond the Brookside mills, and close to the Knoxville and Ohio railroad, were established in 1880 by Fair & Day. In 1890 the works occupied about one and a half acres of ground on Second creek, which creek furnished them water power.

Generally speaking Tennessee iron is used by these works, and about twenty-five men are employed. The product is principally house work, machine castings, hardware finding's, fronts and grates. Sash weights are also made at these works.

At present the name of the company is the Fair-Day Foundry company, the officers of which are David C. Richards, president; A. B. Day, vice-president and superintendent, and J. B. Fair, secretary and treasurer. The annual output of the works is about $30,000.