OT: Warped Pans (fixing?)

iirc, correctly, that last thread about this offered a fairly laborious "smithy" pounding method of making a pan bottom flat again.

what i have noticed since, is that the _majority_ of older pans have hi centers. original price/quality does not seem to matter except that the problem is mostly limited to stainless steel, with or w/no clading.

has anyone tried using a press to flatten the bottom? heat and a heavy weight? and further suggestions welcome. what made me revisit this is a FarberWare electric skillet, very nice, but w/a 3/32" domed bottom. it is ss w/alum. bottom cladding. the dome is interior to the round element.

thanks! --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe
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They are out of flat because they have stretched. Unless you can shrink them back, it's highly unlikely they'll ever be flat again. Body & fender guys are pretty good at shrinking metal, so maybe one of them can recommend a procedure. Seems heating to a red heat and then rapidly cooling is how they go about it. I can't imagine the pan would look to good after that, though. Mean time, they make great clicking devices as you snap the bottom back and forth. :-)

Harold

Reply to
Harold & Susan Vordos

The bottom is domed because it has expanded and it is too big to sit flat. You can press it down, b ut then you will have a dip center which won't sit flat (maybe not a problem if it sits on legs).

I have flattened aluminum pans by simply lightly pounding with a rubber mallet using a log end as an anvil; pound to move metal away from the center. It works. Never tried it with ss/al but it is easy enough to try.

Reply to
Nick Hull

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Nick, thanks for the sanity check, made sense last time, still does. from what i have seen, _most_ pans have either been overheated or are not designed for long life in normal use. again, regardless of cost. i am guilty of it myself, not glowing red, no flames, but definitely hot w/no remaining liquid.

you wouldn't think 400F would warp a decent pan, but that is the max setting on this FarberWare 12" SS/alum skillet. if it was empty, dry and left long enough...? it probably does not help that the pan is supported by a single point at the center, like a star base rising to the center of the bottom of the pan. thanks! --Loren

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Reply to
Loren Coe

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