AUSTRALIA'S ORIGINAL AND BEST CAMP OVEN AND OUTDOOR COOKING CAMPING AND LIFESTYLE FORUM

AUSTRALIA'S ORIGINAL AND BEST CAMP OVEN AND OUTDOOR COOKING CAMPING AND LIFESTYLE FORUM
https://www.aussiecampovenforum.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl Camp Oven & Outdoor Cooking >> Camp Ovens & Related Equipment >> What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these?? https://www.aussiecampovenforum.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1394009554 Message started by grump on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 6:52pm

Title: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 6:52pm

I discovered that my luck was in today. I bought a CO and it had this extra feature......

IMG_8069a.jpg (88 KB | )

Title: Re: What do you do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Smokeydk on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 7:00pm

Bugga :(

Title: Re: What do you do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by TBF on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 7:09pm

Not a happy collector. >:(

Did it come via post ?

Aart

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 7:19pm

It came by personal delivery in a salt bag.
I had my concerns when I observed how casual she handled it ( just a bag of old cast iron y'know)
Gave it the ring test and a lookover with the old eyes. Nothing stood out and it rang clean; still does.
I'm thinking I'll determine how far the crack has traveled and drill there. That should stop its progress then I will season it. The crack looks to be an inch long
What do you reckon??

Anybody got a home-brew crack-test method they want to share?

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Chally on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 7:32pm

I feel your pain as I have been in the same situation. :( Sorry I can't help regarding the best course of action.

Jeff

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Stump Jump on Mar 6^th, 2014 at 10:05am

grump wrote on Mar 5^th, 2014 at 7:19pm:

It's really hard to guard against purchasing cast ironware with very fine hair line cracks, particularly if it is bought sight unseen over the internet. It has certainly happened to me with a Kenrick saucepan I purchased a while back and I really feel for you Grump.

Most of my camp oven purchases these days tend to be restricted to junk shops, flea markets, swap meets and the like; where I have plenty of time to closely scrutinise the goods prior to purchase. Also the prices tend to be far more reasonable than those found on Ebay or Trademe.

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by 2Blackys on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 6:42am

I purchased a camp oven in the USA a few years ago and had it posted back to South Australia. When I came home it was here and the first thing I did was check it for travel damage, and looked OK.

When I stared the seasoning process I noticed a very fine "weep" mark on the outside going nearly to the base. Yes it was a very, very fine crack about 3" long.

I took it to a very good engineer and boiler maker friend of mine to see if it could be welded up.

He said to me to leave it, use it as it is, and after time it will seal itself. He also went on to say his son in law borrowed one of his camp ovens to use up Coopers Creek several years earlier, and it was returned cracked, and all he did was use it and it sealed itself OK.

I did the same with mine,just use it and the crack has sealed up , and I would not even know where it was now.

I do not use it when travelling, but it's used home here all the time.

I would not drill it, just use it and I hope your worries seal up as Joes and mine did.

Good Luck

Gaz

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Seamus on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 7:35am

My son has his own engineering business here and says that whilst it can be done, it is quite a difficult and precise job welding these sorts of cracks in cast iron.

I showed him the comments about leaving it to heal up itself and he agreed that it was probably best to go that way, particularly if it was only a fine crack.

However you would need a very experienced welder if you chose that option.

Cheers

Seamus

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Stump Jump on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 11:14am

I would have to agree with the others, that it would be best to ignore the hairline crack and use and enjoy the camp oven. I have been regularly using my Kenrick saucepan with a much longer hairline crack than yours for nearly 10 years now. It never leaked and the crack hasn't lengthened or opened up

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 4:54pm

Thank you all for your empathy, experience and wisdom.
I sought advice from an engineering friend and thought long and hard on what has been advised from the wisemen of COCIA.
If I was to drill the crack it would always be a CO with a hole ;D . Drilling a hole that was small enough to be considered discreet would be problematic in that it may not pick up the very end of the crack.
I am listening to the experience of Stump, Seamus and gaz.
Today I put it through two seasoning sessions and it looks a treat; best of all, no crack movement 8-)

I'll post up some images of it when it arrived and post electro.
Tomorrow I will take some shots in good light to show you the end result.

Once again, a huge thanks to the COCIA brotherhood.

a_Compilation.jpg (219 KB | )

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 5:20pm

after the electro.
The good news, if you hadn't noticed, is it has all its limbs ;D

What do you think of the shape of the legs; they're a bit more elaborate than the usual ?

Compilation_b2.jpg (216 KB | )

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by poddy dodger on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 5:25pm

grump, I agree with the previous comments about leaving it alone, I have two ovens with hairline cracks, I use them and it doesn't seem to matter. One is an 18" Metters with a 3" crack in the lid, I've learned to live with it, no big deal, I bought it like that because the price was right ;D ;D ;D

Rob.

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 5:43pm

poddy dodger wrote on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 5:25pm:

You're right Rob. I am feeling better about it already.
Its a bit like renovating and not getting things quite as spot on as you would wish. For the first few weeks you notice any flaw every time you come upon it; then after a time you wonder what all the concern was about ;)

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Chally on Mar 7^th, 2014 at 8:02pm

I don't have the experience of some of the other fellas but I had an oven that had a crack in the base and the third time we cooked in it the crack ran a lot. It was the 11" Carron I sent you the photos of. They are pretty thin though. We were bitterly disappointed and my wife is looking high and low to find a base as it was her favourite camp oven.

Yours looks a fine old oven mate and it is coming up really well. :)

Jeff

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by grump on Mar 8^th, 2014 at 6:59pm

Yeah Jeff, my sympathy with you on that one. The walls certainly are fine and not accepting of too rough handling/uneven heating.
If I come upon a Carron pan to suit your lid I will be certain to give you a call.

I think that when the cracks are constrained any tension will express itself by travelling.
With that in mind I will be heating and cooling it steadily.

Anyhow, here are some images of the seasoned item - the browned ones are the camera flash(?)

compilation_a.jpg (247 KB | )

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Chally on Mar 8^th, 2014 at 9:04pm

It came up beautifully mate. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Jeff

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Seamus on Mar 9^th, 2014 at 8:03am

Lovely job, Grump. I'm sure the first stew will be very fine business indeed ;D

Cheers

Seamus

Title: Re: What to do when you are fortunate enough to have one of these??
Post by Stump Jump on Mar 12^th, 2014 at 8:46am

She's come up a treat Grump. Enjoy!!