Mom died a few months ago on 10/16/20. A week or so later we all got together to start cleaning out her house. While my moron brothers were fighting over her furniture, lamps, and TV's I was quietly walking out the back door with a treasure trove of cast iron that looked just like these...mirror smooth and exquisitely maintained. All of this stuff belonged to my mom's mother who died well before I was born in late 1968. I can remember mom me telling that her mom acquired all this cast iron cookware by payroll deduction in the 1940's each Friday as an employee benefit of sorts. It's truly timeless and priceless stuff.

I'm glad you recognized the potential hazards of breathing metal dust created by mechanical processing iron surfaces. Siderosis is the deposition of excess iron in body tissue. When used without qualification, it usually refers to an environmental disease of the lung, also known more specifically as pulmonary siderosis or Welder's disease, which is a form of pneumoconiosis. However, I'm not sure you realize that you were wearing the wrong respirator. That 3-M 6000 series respirator was equipped with acid gas and organic vapor CARTRIDGES. Cartridges do not stop the ultra-fine particles of your concern, (those less than 5 microns in size). Instead of using those cartridges you should have used FILTERS such as the magenta-colored P-100 filter. That filter will capture 99.97% of particles down to 0.03 microns in size and is effective against dusts and fumes.

I have a square cast skillet I bought probably 40 years ago. It has been all over the country and has cooked alot of food over open fires. I bought a 10 inch lodge 10 years ago and have done the same with it as well. But like you said, that 40 year old skillet is almost glass smooth inside. Nice video.

I have a couple of lodges that are awesome, and just now came across an old Griswold that I bought. It is amazing to see how different they are manufactured and how the Griswold is so smooth.... I think ill try this with one of my Lodges, thanks for taking the time to make this video, it really does help.

Daniel Locke totally agree, learned most about my cast iron and care from Kent Rollins along from a couple of other people here on UKposts, and if it's worked for them for so many years, can't be all wrong, but thank you Scott for some extra education from this video and what and how you went about doing your CI, there's always something to learn from others dealing with CI

I grew up with my father using Dutch ovens and mother using cast iron in the kitchen. My father took his best Lodge oven. A 12" deep and machined the lid to fit perfectly. I still have that oven. Use it all the time.

I did the same to a Lodge carbon steel pan, it improved so much. Did the same process to a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven. I even use that one to stir fry at high temperatures. The process works.

Good choice of pans, the Lodge Combo Cooker shallow skillet (smoothed and seasoned in the distant past) has been my scrambled egg/omelette pan of choice for a decade+. If you can find a stainless steel pot lid of matching diameter it gives the ability to create a steam environment if wanted as well; much handier than using the much heavier deep skillet.

Good idea on mounting those to work on them. I've tried that as well on some newer Lodge I've come across. But damn, that's a lot of work!! I just buy the older stuff from the thrift stores and garage sales and recondition those slick, old surfaces. Thanks for sharing.

Great video. I have many lodge skillets etc, but once in a while I'll get one that just don't want a season. I do what you did here and it makes a huge difference. Not to mention I like to display my cast iron in my kitchen and it looks much better smooth.

I know this is a veeerry long comment but you'll find a lot of good, helpful and interesting info. :) Lodge USED to machine their products in the "good old days," when they had competition. Now that they have 95% of the major market, they choose to save a few bucks and leave it rough because they know people will buy based on name alone, which is too bad. There are other companies, like Finex, though they are much more expensive because you get what Lodge USED to give you. Lodge still uses a better casting process compared to the import pieces from China. I have new and old iron on my kitchen racks. I also have several much older pieces (not lodge) that are finely machined and it's easy to season and cooks great. You just have to be willing to spend time preparing and seasoning what you have. I use an electrolysis process to restore old, crud and rust covered cast and reseason. The best (read easiest, readily available and easy to maintain) way to season cast iron, bar none (in my opinion, others like flax oil, etc. and that works, too), for ease, flavor- enhancing and the ultimate "non-stick" finish, that won't turn rancid, is to use rendered beef fat, a.k.a. tallow. It's produced in some amount everytime you cook beef and can easily be made in larger amounts by rendering down some fat from your saved trimmings or acquired from the butcher. It is great for cooking with and makes food tasty and adds "flavor" to your cast iron pans. :) When you cook some beef and put the leftover juice/gravy in the fridge and the hard, white layer of fat forms on top, that's rendered tallow. It takes several LIGHT coats, not one thick coat, to initially season a cast iron pan. Heat the oven to 400°-450° (hotter is better), bake the piece(s) for a FULL hour, minimum, i go an hour and a half, then turn off the oven and DO NOT open the door until the oven is back to room temp. Unlike seasoning with some oils, you won't smoke yourself out of the house, either (the other reason not to open the oven). ;) From then on, every time you do a steak or burgers, bacon, etc. The seasoning layer will build up until it finally covers all the bumps in the bottom of the pan. Once the bumps are covered, the layer of polymer will build smooth and slick. NOW you're cookin'! The fats turn into a type of polymer, almost like a slick plastic. After enough steaks have been cooked, the bottom of my favorite pan is covered with a "plastic" layer going on 1/8" thick, and building. That has taken a long time and a lot of steaks, bacon, burgers and minimal scraping or "cleaning." I just get the pan really hot, scrape lose any sticky bits, then just wipe clean with a paper towel. Ok For cooking residue that isn't stuck fast or a lot of wet stuff clinging on after you cook, just get the hot and give a blast of cold water. Dry off any remaining water or throw on a hot burner for a couple minutes until it dries (the best way to ensure a dry pan). While its still warm, rub in a very thin coat of cooking oil. You can use metal utensils (spatulas, etc.) but be careful not to gouge into the finish, wooden works best for stir-frying and cleaning. A thick season layer in the bottom of a pan will feel slick as a skating rink and be amazingly non-stick, with liquids just rolling out like water off a well waxed car. If food burns and sticks, take a wooden utensil and a tsp. of salt and, with a hot pan, scrape the sticky bits loose then give a quick blast of cold water in the sink and the pan will be good to go. Wipe out any water residue and you're good. For that matter, depending upon what you cook, I just wipe out the pan with a paper towel and it's good to go, no washing or scrubbing needed. Deglazing a hot pan with wine, cider-vinegar or water helps for pans with heavy cooking residue, as well. Always scrape off any stuck food, as I said, with a WOODEN (or silicone coated) utensil in a HOT water. Lodge even makes a bristled scrub brush that is designed to not damage your hard earned season job. But you don't need it. Washing with soap will NOT ruin the finish or make food "taste soapy." That's a myth. Simply rinse well in hot water until the soap is well rinsed out. That's it. NO DISHWASHERS or all bets are off. It will melt off the seasoning layer and the pan will rust before it comes out of the washer. But a well seasoned pan is so easy to clean, I just have to wipe it out when I'm done cooking. :) If you do have to wash your pan thoroughly, put it on the stove, heat it up and make sure it's very dry. You can then, while it's still very warm, rub in a small amount of tallow or a thin film of high temp cooking oil, like canola or REGULAR olive oil (NO extra virgin olive oil won't! It won't take high heat!). Always use regular olive oil to fry/season with and extra virgin to put in/on your food after its cooked! Just rub in the oil well (heated pan) and wipe out any excess. It should feel almost dry to the touch. Almost. :) Use this same process to clean and reseason your copper coated, "non-stick" modern pans, as well! They claim "use no oil!" and show eggs slide out of the pan... BUT, that's to actually cook with, if you read the small print in the instructions, it tells you that you must first season the pan, as above (tablespoon of high temp oil rubbed into a hot pan) and to reseason after every machine or thorough hand washing! And then it tells you that you may need a small amount of oil, anyway, depending on what you're cooking. Liars... lol You don't need to add too much oil or fat to cook in those newfangled pans, IF you season/cook with only high temp oil. NO extra virgin olive oil or PAM type cooking spray or it will burn and turn your pan dark and loose the non-stick-ability. Sneaky little buggers, they don't tell you that part in the commercials. I mentioned all that because, though you can't really see it against the dark of cast iron, cooking spray and extra virgin oil will cause your food to burn much more easily, so beware. :) After a good seasoning layer is down you can use Pam, etc. BUT just be aware, as I say, of burning your food. It'll happen a lot faster than with regular, "hi-temp" oils. If you really wanna go the extra step, save your beef fat trimmings in the freezer when you trim up your meat. Then, when you have some (a pound or two) saved up, put the trimmings in a pot set on med-low heat and let it go, stiring occasionally, until all the little meaty bits are crispy and floating on top. It takes a while, be patient. Skim off the bits of meat and debris, pour the clear fat into ramekins or small, metal pans (cupcake, meatloaf, etc.) to cool and you have a beef tallow bar that is good for everything from seasoning cast iron to cooking your favorite foods (instead of oils) to making candles! If the power goes out and you have no candles or flashlights, just poke a hole into a piece of tallow, insert a wick (in a pinch, use kitchen twine dipped in hot fat and allowed to cool) and you have a great candle!! And for the best French fries you've ever eaten, just fry your 'taters in beef tallow (that's what put McDonald's on the map) and hit them with some seasoned salt while still hot... Yeah, buddy. Enjoy!

Lodge could solve a lot of arguing between its customers, by making a smooth version and a porous version for people to buy what they want

I have all kinds of old/new(er) cast iron cookware, even a 43 year old Wagner pan I bought new, and really, they're all great, but they all behave a little differently. I really think it just comes down to personal preference. But I do have a couple of newer pieces I clamped down to a jig and ground/sanded smooth. One is a Lodge chef pan, and to this day, after buying/using cast iron cookware for more than 40 years, it's my favorite. It has a beautiful, smooth patina and food just slips and slides all over the inside of it.

Wow! Good stuff! Impressive results! Well done! Cheers from the “States”! 🇺🇸 🇨🇦👌

All of this my Great-grandmother taught me when I was 6 or 7 years old..she was 89 then..taught me how to make cheese, soap, medicine for roots/flowers/ weeds..dyes. all kinds of stuff..some still use today..and I'm almost 62 now..

That's a well detailed video. Well done!

Wow thats impressive! My 10 piece dutch oven box just arrived from the post as i was watching your video lol. So this is what I will be doing this weekend. Thank you sooo much!!

Very nice that you acknowledged other “you-tubers”. Enjoyed this video. Great job!

Great project. I’m doing it too. The polished cast iron cooks wonderfully.

you sir did it correctly. I used the stripping disk then went to a random orbit sander and a pneumatic die grinder with sanding disk for the sides but I do have a lot of metalworking tools already. Also used a flap disk on an angle grinder.

I use a flap sanding disk on an angle grinder. I have a number of cast iron items, a few of which I've used tools on to smooth out, and I've gotten great results. I have an ages-old Wagner, and it came from the factory fairly smooth, so anyone that harshes on owners mechanically smoothing out their iron is just being dim. I love cast iron, and I was surprised to realized I do pretty much everything in iron, other than boil water.

Good tips. Gonna have to do this to my new Lodge cast iron pan. Thanks.

Great JOB. Beautiful.

Excellent tutorial. If Cowboy Kent Rollins believes in sanding off the roughness for best results, then that's good enough for me. Also I second your point about wearing a face mask. I wish I'd been that smart for the first couple skillets I smoothed out.

Great job man. I don't understand why they just don't do it out of the factory. I have a nice 20" when I looked at the finish I couldn't believe they sent them out that rough. It's Lodge, we'll work it. Thanks for sharing your process!

I saw your video yesterday just before my Math 12 test. After test I run to homedepot everything, spent 4hours to grind my cast iron skillets to perfection from Costco. Thanks

I have to say, that your finished skillets belong on a Home & Garden magazine cover.. Very nice!

I use cast iron griddle for a certain south Asian crepe and having an absolute smooth surface makes the crepes come off real easy. This is exactly what I was looking for

Great instructional video. I have done this with an Emeril pan made in China. Came out great and after seasoning is better than Teflon!!

Thank you 👍 And thank you very much for the safety advice 😎

Great video

This is excellent... thanks for the info

i love me a smooth cast iron! Great tutorial

GREAT VIDEO, Thank you.

this is exactly the set I have. I like it too, it's great for pan casseroles and almost anything but eggs or other things you don't want to stick. I like it as a dutch oven as well. thx!! I'm gonna use a grinder 80 - 120 flap discs !!!

Used to buy them smooth. Mine were - and I got them over 40 years ago...

Just what I was looking for! Thank you.

I just took the old seasoning off fifteen skillets, sauce pans and dutch ovens I bought at an auction using a lye bath. I'll get some of those diablo discs, I've only found the sixty grit though no forty ones around. Guess I'll have to buy some extra then. I have those rough surfaces you talk about on at least nine cast iron I have.

Scott - Great video and presentation. I have some Lodge and not really a fan of them (overall). For my home, I use Finex but they don't leave the house. What I've done for my camping pans is I now just keep my eyes open for old Griswold. The quality is night and day compared to Lodge. The amount of work to get them mirror smooth is about 10%...plus they will ALWAYS get smoother than the Lodge. The problem with "new" cast iron is it's porous and porous throughout the thickness. As far as the old cast being sanded before seasoning, that may have been but it's a fact that old cast iron was/is much better than new cast... just ask the wood plane collectors. Take care and thanks for the video.

Great job

Thanks for this! Mine arrives in the mail today and I will be using this method on it

I went and bought a new cast iron skillet that isn't made with the pebble blasted surface. Nice and smooth machined surface. Works FAR better than any lodge I've ever owned. (made by Smithey if anyone is interested. It's a bit pricey but damn is it nice.

I just found your video, and I have t say, that right out of the gate, you are a class act. Great of you to give credit where credit is due!... Now back to the video. :-) It is great to see that you are using breathing protection, a short discussion about safe work practices would have been a good thing.

I have done this before on the Cast Iron from Lodge and the Wagner Sets you could buy in 1991 up to 1994. These pans had a ton of writing on the bottom but were sadly so rough it was difficult to season those correctly. Since Lodge is the only American made cast iron cookware left now their stuff is as rough as it can be. I used a Lodge Dutch Oven for years on camping trips but eventually got into collecting. When I obtained a few really vintage Wagner, Piqua and Griswold pieces and found out how smooth they were I sold all of my Lodge and New Wagner Ware and started using the old stuff. The old pans and Dutch Ovens were thinner and lighter than the new stuff. Now I only cook in vintage Cast Iron. Your video is a great example of how to Fix the problems created by modern methods of casting Cast Iron. Thank you. I found it very interesting and if someone can't locate or afford vintage cast iron your method is perfect. And thanks for showing people your methods and concerns about a person's health doing this. Great Video and well done with good commentary.

I sanded my lodge pan down on the inside around 10 years ago. It made a HUGE difference. Well worth the effort. I hated it when I first bought it and almost gave it away. Now I use it on my grill, bake with it, make crepes in it, fry eggs over easy with no problem in it, and a whole lot more. They’re great.

Thanks Scott did mines yesterday! Seasoned it last night cooked egg over easy and boy did it glide off like butter. Thanks!

Pretty awesome! I started looking for videos to see if anyone else had the idea to just use power tools. I used the stripping disc (not the same one but close enough) except I put the disc in a drill press and moved the pan around; much better control I think. I didn't have any sanding discs around so I used my angle grinder with a flapwheel disc. One of my pans is so pitted it looks like the surface of an asteroid, so I just finished at the flapwheel disc. Would like to take it to a machine shop and have them mill it, lol

A friend of mine did that job on a metal lathe securing the pan as you did here. He first did a round carving on the board and drilled a hole on the center to center on the board back a piece of pipe with a flange secured to the board to hold the board with the pan in the lathe chuck. It was a very easy job.

I found my cast iron clan! Looks awesome.

Superb, well done that man, long life to you and your pan.

Wow those turned out beautiful. I wish I'd started my pans like this, because that slick finish really looks amazing.

I have this same 2-n-1 set. I sanded mine with an 80 grit sandpaper wheel. I coated it with oil and fried a perfect egg. It didn't stick at all.

Hi..im from indonesia..i 've used have local craftmanship cast iron..then i had lodge cast iron skillet 10.25 which i bought expensive in Indonesia..it's so good to have lodge..its so much better than local cast iron..i love lodge product..i can cook pizza right on stove top..no oven anymore

Just want to thank you for this video. It's really good content.

I bough my first Lodge skillet yesterday and sanded it by hand; 60, 120 and 240 grit sand papers! It took a while, but it's a huge difference. Seasoned four times with the oven method, and now it has a pretty decent seasoning.

I did mine today with a DA 36, 60, and 80 then corse, medium then fine scotch brite. Fantastically smooth, well worth the effort.

Thanks for your sharing and I come from Hong Kong

Killed it on this video! Perfect short instructions. Video quality on point. Audio same. Huge fan right now! Nice job!

Wow. Nice job

All of my cast is Lodge. Lodge uses a type of sand to cream the mold for forming their cast products. I’ve never sanded any of them. I’ve found that after three seasoning cycles, theres no problems at all with the rough surface.

Very good tutorial. Yes, this is exactly how to do it. Lodge has been using coarse sand in their casting molds for some time. It is cheaper, but it produces a bumpy finish that will, at times, cause you to "stub" your spatula when trying to turn something over in the pan. In my opinion, this is a serious manufacturing defect. And that Lodge doesn't even inspect for this condition is woeful. They have even gone to the extent of selling their customers a bill of goods by saying that the bumps are supposed to be there and are needed to hold the seasoning. This is total BS! Just look at the old Griswold and Wagner cast iron pans. They were all ground smooth, and have had no problem in holding seasoning for many, many decades. Kind of a rant here, but you get the idea. The beautiful job that Scott has done on this set of pebbly-rough cast iron is to be admired. I own Griswold, Field (unbelievable stuff!), old SK, and yes Lodge. The 1891 series by Lodge had very smooth interiors and are good pans. If buying new production rough-cast Lodge, you will want to sand them down in order to gain all the benefits of having a good cast iron surface upon which to cook. Just my two cents. Cheers!

I did this a couple years ago. Seasoning doesn't stick as well. Comes off easily, even after seasoning it many times before using. I think maybe the newer stuff isn't the same metal content as older pans. I'm going to hit mine with a sand blaster to rough it back up and re-season it. Even when it is working, it isn't any less "non stick" than the original finish, well-seasoned. Looks prettier, though.

Good on ya mate for giving credit for your info..

I did the Kent Rollins method on my Lodge. It is amazing now! I'm not a power tool pro or anything but it really works! The skillet is such a joy to cook on! I recommend using 60, 80 and 120 grit paper!

Damn that looks awesome! I want my pans to look like that!

Thank you for sharing! I've thought about trying this with a fresh skillet. I'm not sure how valuable do the sides of a double cooker is? Does look pretty. I can say from experience that if you just use your rough-ass lodge skillet for 10+ years it becomes smooth.

Workbench and some clamps, and yeah...I rushed it the first time and didn't wear a mask. I took a shower in my clothes to knock off the shavings, before I took a shower without them. And then a half an hour with q-tips in my nose and ears... Sigh...but now, my favorite two-egg pan is my shiny 6-incher. :) Good vid. Here's yer' upthumb.

I used my angle grinder and a 40 grit flap disk, followed by a mouse sander with 80 grit paper, and then a bit of hand sanding with 120 grit. Took me about 5 minutes with similar results. No vice needed 😀

I noticed that the dutch ovens I ordered say they was seasoned at the factory, but I plan to season them myself once I get the material I need. I am waiting to receive the skillet which I ordered from the factory, but I know that I am on a waiting list to get it, and have to be patient. I plan on doing the same thing with it and until then my grandmother's skillet will have to do like it has been doing for decades with my family.

How did you dry, aneal, season it as you were describing? Looks amazing!

I have 2 pieces of Lodge - rough, one piece of Wagner - originally smooth, and a bunch of Chinese pieces - super rough. The Wagner skillet has worked fine for years. I haven't smoothed my Lodge pieces, at least not yet. I have smoothed out my biggest piece - a Chinese 14 inch skllet that had a very rough surface. I left some pores in it. After seasoning, In my opinion, the food came out of the pan more easily, which is the real reason for doing this. It isn't about making these pans beautiful. It's about function.

I popped my lodge in my Ooni pizza oven for 30 minutes and the entire seasoning just came right off! It was nice to start with a complete blank slate to get it just how I wanted.

This might be a good project if you want to give it a try. But I've had cast irons for 20 years, and they all work great with just seasoning. Flax seed oil was always something I heard works. Somewhat skeptical, I tried it, and it worked incredibly well. Eggs slide off of it now (no joke!).

The sanding marks disappear pretty quickly when you burn some food on there. And then just continue cooking and seasoning it. I had great results with out sanding that much.

great video

Gosh, those turned out gorgeous ❣. Good job and thank you for sharing; why don't you buy them new and do this (that's a lot of work, many people would pay big 💰 for) and sell them on eBay or wherever. You could sell them right up there with the old vintage smooth cast irons. Just beautiful 😘

I've done it both ways. I've sanded it down extremely smooth.. say 98% smooth like glass with only very deep pits that showed. I've also sanded it for maybe 15-20 mins with a 40 grit then finished with a 220 grit using an orbital sander. From my personal experience of using the two at least 4 times a week, I can say that the quick rough sand is much much better than the glass finish. I cannot for the life of me get the glass to keep seasoning. It'll take seasoning pretty well but it'll lose it quick if I don't maintain it. The rough orbital sander pans have much better hold for seasoning and I can even use a scraper to clean the roughest parts out quickly and easily instead of having to scrub forever or spend 30 mins with a plastic scraper. I've actually repurchased a few pans that I have glass finished just so I could have the better seasoning on the rougher sand job. I can cook just about anything and clean up is quick and easy with a metal scraper that you'd use with something like a flat griddle. I wipe it down or if it's extra nasty I'll wash it then dry it on the stove with a light coat of oil to the point of smoking then turn it off and let it rest until next use. Also I've found with seasoning is it's best to bake on a few super thin layers of some high smoke point oil. I personally like peanut oil since it smells sweet when smoking and doesn't stink as much as others. Do a few cycles of burning off oil. Most would say to let it completely cool but I'm impatient and usually just let it cool for a few mins so I can throw on a new layer and just repeat that for a few hours with maybe 30 mins in between cycles. Once it's done then burn some oil off like you're cooking something (outside because it will get very smokey). You can it to cake up and get nasty and like tar because this creates the final super slick layer that will last forever. I'd recommend using a scraper to pull the layers off and keep it smooth as you can. Down the road if you notice it sticking a little just do a new stovetop burn and it should go back to normal. You can spend hours and hours doing it perfectly but ultimately it's a tool and meant to be used and beat up and abused but also taken care of.

I have two Lodge skillets (one with lid), and one Stargazer skillet and the Stargazer has a better finish and you can cook better in it, but I can cook in the Lodge skillets also, but the finish is rougher, but nothing which affects it's ability to cook in. I also have two Lodge dutch ovens also (one with legs on it) and have used one to cook with on the stove and the other for cooking with outside and have cooked in one on my stove and was going to use the other one outside when we lost electricity, but we got the power back on before I got to use it. I never sanded my Lodge ironware as I didn't want to damage it and they are still nice for cooking in and I keep them oiled up.

Wish I had someone to do this to my newer Lodges. I don't have the tools, confidence in my drilling skills or the desire to do it myself but I sure would love it if they were this smooth.

Todays cast iron MUST BE SANDED, it will never get as smooth as my Griswold and Wagner skillets

I had to do this to my cast iron skillets after a friend's wife ran them though a dish washer. Yes I about crapped a brick. Over 8 years of seasoning gone. Stuff happens now they are a smooth finished so all ended well.

Good info, thanks

This is basically the method I use to re-finish pans too. I use a more powerful drill with a handle. I start with sandpaper, the quick strip disc was a waste of money IMO. I remove a lot more material than shown in this vid. All the little bumps telegraph through your seasoning causing sticking. I like to only see the big pits left. With the backing pad you can push really hard and get it to bend into the corners. All those little pits in the corner contribute to stuff I bake sticking.

Glad your project came out. I bought my Lodge skillet 8 about 20 years ago cooked and burnt a lot of stuff then one day burnt something really bad. I waited about a week, scraped the hwll out of it then used a wire wheel then sanded by hand. Reseasoned and it has gotten better and better. Now almost glass smooth. Cooks eggs like a champ. Just was gifted my grandmother's 80 year Wagner #8. Surface looks about the same. Cant wait to cook on it.

When sanding the elemental advice us to always keep it moving. That is, do not stall over any spot. Old timers just hand sanded the inside bottom of any rough cast skillet or to clean a rusted pan. You need to buy a few quality full sheets of garnet paper and fold them into quarters. That's it. 120 grit is the classic but you can go more coarse to start or finer to finish if you want. But buy 120 if you are only buying one. The crappy garnet paper from Home Depot isn't worth getting. Anything they have isn't like the garnet paper that automobile paint supply houses carry. Mattos used to carry the real thing and probably still do if they haven't closed. You'll know it when you see it. And try it out. Hand work will not remove a ruinous amount from your pan even though it may take patience and time. Good luck!

I did this to my brand new lodge. No regrets!

Great vid. I also like your sword reviews on your other channel.

Honestly I just used a 80grit sandpaper ( silicone carbide, super cheap tho )on a wood block ,worked amazingly well . Damn you made it look like a huge deal 😂. Biggest part was re seasoning , a real pain if you don't have an external stove , I did it anyway with 3 small portable gas burners... 😅

Cast iron is wonderful cooking gear, so many people can’t understand why go to all this trouble. Because it’s a heritage, because it’s fun, it’s something Americans have done for generations, it’s part of our history, nothing cooks as good as a piece of cast iron, if you love to cook, get into it, it’s just part of the heritage and adventure and incredible food.

Nice Job, Thanks

Excellent video, can't wait to do this! But I have a question, I know if I sand wood to finely that that wood will not take stain very well. Can this happen to a pan in regards to taking seasoning?

Ive had the lodge double cooker you worked on for over 15 years. It is the campsite master piece of cookware for small groups. Zip tie the handles for transport. Never sanded it. It gets used 6 or so times a year for a week at a time. Breakfast lunch and dinner. Its by no means nonstick. But over time, use and cleaning it isn't rough. The season builds up. Right now im seasoning my Pit Boss double cooker 14"(avocado oil) 450* 45 minutes each run. 5 should do it. Its the set lodge should make. Not as rough as lodge but not smooth either. You need some roughness to hold those seasoned layers.

Thanks for the video

My mother was born in 1910. She got a cast iron frying pan from her mother. When I was a kid we used that pan for everything. Nothing stuck to it. It had sush a heavy slick coating on it, that even washing it in soap and water many times didn't hurt the finish. I don't know how old it is, but it's way over 100 years old.

I've done this for years. My method has no quick-strip disc I use an automotive Dual-Action Air Sander (D/A) and 80-grit. The residual 'pits' that are left over get filled in time with seasoning 'varnish' and use. Then when the seasoning isn't looking good any more and I have to take it down again with 80-grit the pits are filled-in this time and the surface is much smoother. It can end up like a black mirror and completely non-stick.

This is worth while doing, makes a big improvement Thanks Scott for the video!

@Scott Cush the reason Lodge leaves it that way is that their Seasoning process requires them to spray the pans as they are hung this method of doing it requires the surface to be of a rougher texture to hold the oil as it moves down the assembly line to the ovens . Long enough use will even out the seasoning at home but a smoother metal surface takes less time to get that non-stick cooking we all like about Cast Iron

Nice!

My LODGE 10" skillet hasn't needed it, but I may want to smooth it out eventually just so it's not rough on spatulas and wooden spoons. Btw I don't know what it costs up there but here my skillet was only $16. Not bad on smoothing your cast iron out, and the jig was a good idea.

Good information...