An old pan that was forged in the 1800s may have been languishing in someone’s basement for a half century by the time these pieces find their way into our hands.  These well-made, thick pots are usually still rock solid, but they look dingy and gray.

In 2023, Joe got obsessed with learning the antiquated craft of “hand-wiped tinning”.  In this process, a series of indelicate methods (nasty acid, lye, sand paper, diamond-tipped dremel) are used to remove any old tin and gunk left in the pan.

Then the pan is super-heated and pure tin is melted inside the pot.  Using a special combination of skill, safety gear and insanity, Joe reaches inside the 500 degree cauldron and “paints” the interior walls of the pan with fresh liquid tin.

The tin nuggets look like mercury when they abruptly melt and it’s all very exciting.  And hot.