• Skillet Wanted

    From Bob La Londe@none@none.com99 to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Nov 9 10:07:27 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    No. I don't want to know what skillet you like. I'm sure its superior to
    the skillet I want in every way. I just want what I want.

    Back in the late 80s I ran trap lines for two winters. The second season
    I was all in, running lines from first light to last light, and
    sometimes after. Often back in camp I'd be putting up fur and putting it
    on ice long after dark. I was out on a ridgeline once when the wind was
    so bad setting up camp was impossible, and visibility was so low I
    didn't want to risk taking my truck back down the trail. I dragged a
    sleeping bag up in the cab and slept fitfully through the night as the
    wind hammered the truck back and forth. Once I got both thumbs caught in
    a double long spring from the bottom side and had to dig holes in the
    sand for my elbows, so I had enough room to get my knees up on the
    springs. I broke through the crust over sugar sand and had to back my
    truck out 3-4 feet at a time with a piece of plywood for several hundred
    yards because flattening the tires wasn't enough to drive out. I once
    caught 21 fox in 18 traps in one night. It was the hardest I ever worked
    in my life, and the only job I ever truly loved. If I could have done it
    for a living I would have, but the fur market went bust the second
    season and I didn't even break even.

    There are a lot of memories and a few THINGS I remember from those
    months on the trail. One was an inexpensive skillet. I had other kitchen
    wear in camp of course, but that skillet was just perfect. It wasn't a
    heavy well-seasoned cast iron skillet either. I like food cooked in one
    of those, but I'll leave the care and tending of cast iron to somebody
    else. My favorite skillet, and I've not found one exactly like it since,
    was aluminum. It was heavy thick aluminum with a nonstick coating and a
    long wood handle. Felt like oak, but it could have been anything. The
    thick aluminum spread heat evenly, the nonstick coating was, with the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, better than any I have used since,
    and the wood handle didn't burn my hand when I lifted the skillet off
    the shovel hole full of coals in the ground.

    I often had a fire for heat through the night. I carried a stove in the
    truck, but most morning I'd dig two small shovel bites in the ground
    near my fire and dump a shovel full of coals in each one. One for my
    coffee pot, and one for my breakfast. Like having a stove burner on the ground. Often at night after cooking dinner I'd run some water (I
    carried plenty) in the skillet, but more than once I burrowed into my
    bag before doing proper cleanup. Many times I dumped the cake of ice out
    of the skillet in the morning and put it right on my shovel full of coals.

    I didn't baby it. I'm not sure I had anything other than the regular
    metal implements. Maybe I had a PTFE spatula. I don't remember. I sure
    as heck didn't have silicone. It held up to normal use and careless
    handling, and it was still non-stick after a few years of use.

    When I was going "back" to college I rented a trailer lot and acquired a "travel" trailer. Bigger than most travel trailers, but maybe not quite
    as big as a mobile home. It was cheaper than living in the dorms, and it
    gave me more freedom. I had a big lot, and working on a car outside was
    not even in the way. I had room for my car, truck, motorcycles, and a
    tool shed with plenty of room to spare. I had that skillet then.
    Sometime after that it disappeared along with my surplus store US Army machete. The one with the good stiff blade, and the fat handle that was comfortable in my hand.

    I know I probably never will find one, but I've been looking for a
    skillet like that ever since. If I found one, I'd probably buy three of
    them.
    --
    Bob La Londe
    CNC Molds N Stuff


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  • From Bob La Londe@none@none.com99 to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Nov 9 10:17:32 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On 11/9/2025 10:07 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
    Sometime after that it disappeared along with my surplus store US Army machete. The one with the good stiff blade, and the fat handle that was comfortable in my hand.


    Wouldn't mind finding a machete like that either. I have a Condor
    parang, but I always feel like my hand is going to slide down on the
    blade.
    --
    Bob La Londe
    CNC Molds N Stuff

    --
    This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
    www.avg.com
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  • From Leon Fisk@lfiskgr@gmail.invalid to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Nov 9 13:57:52 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On Sun, 9 Nov 2025 10:07:27 -0700
    Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
    <snip>
    My favorite skillet, and I've not found one exactly like it since,
    was aluminum. It was heavy thick aluminum with a nonstick coating and a
    long wood handle.
    I've played this game... Troll Ebay with a search something like this
    to start with: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=vintage+aluminum+skillet+heavy
    Once you see something close read the details for it. Like make, size, description and what was used for the listing Title. Refine your search
    as you goEfn+N+A
    From what you described this is kinda what I pictured it to look like: https://www.ebay.com/itm/396973779318
    --
    Leon Fisk
    Grand Rapids MI
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bob La Londe@none@none.com99 to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Nov 9 13:52:49 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On 11/9/2025 10:57 AM, Leon Fisk wrote:
    On Sun, 9 Nov 2025 10:07:27 -0700
    Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

    <snip>
    My favorite skillet, and I've not found one exactly like it since,
    was aluminum. It was heavy thick aluminum with a nonstick coating and a
    long wood handle.

    I've played this game... Troll Ebay with a search something like this
    to start with:

    https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=vintage+aluminum+skillet+heavy

    Once you see something close read the details for it. Like make, size, description and what was used for the listing Title. Refine your search
    as you goEfn+N+A

    From what you described this is kinda what I pictured it to look like:

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/396973779318


    I think I found one. Yeah, they don't make it anymore. Looks like one
    made by Mirro.
    --
    Bob La Londe
    CNC Molds N Stuff

    --
    This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
    www.avg.com
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  • From Leon Fisk@lfiskgr@gmail.invalid to rec.crafts.metalworking on Mon Nov 10 08:59:07 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On Sun, 9 Nov 2025 13:52:49 -0700
    Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
    <snip>
    I think I found one. Yeah, they don't make it anymore. Looks like one
    made by Mirro.
    I have several Mirro pots/pans from my parents. They were a "solid"
    product. Not the best, not the worst...
    There's a wiki page for them. Kinda interesting history. Made
    aluminum canteens for the military early on. Also got into making both
    aluminum and fiberglass boatsEfyaN+A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirro_Aluminum_Company
    --
    Leon Fisk
    Grand Rapids MI
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Clare Snyder@clare@snyder.on.ca to rec.crafts.metalworking on Wed Nov 12 01:52:06 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On Mon, 10 Nov 2025 08:59:07 -0400, Leon Fisk <lfiskgr@gmail.invalid>
    wrote:

    On Sun, 9 Nov 2025 13:52:49 -0700
    Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:

    <snip>
    I think I found one. Yeah, they don't make it anymore. Looks like one
    made by Mirro.

    I have several Mirro pots/pans from my parents. They were a "solid"
    product. Not the best, not the worst...

    There's a wiki page for them. Kinda interesting history. Made
    aluminum canteens for the military early on. Also got into making both >aluminum and fiberglass boats??

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirro_Aluminum_Company
    Over the years Morro-Craft has built some pretty impressive boats -
    both aluminum and glass.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bob La Londe@none@none.com99 to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Dec 14 10:19:20 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On 11/9/2025 10:07 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
    No. I don't want to know what skillet you like. I'm sure its superior to
    the skillet I want in every way. I just want what I want.

    Back in the late 80s I ran trap lines for two winters. The second season
    I was all in, running lines from first light to last light, and
    sometimes after. Often back in camp I'd be putting up fur and putting it
    on ice long after dark. I was out on a ridgeline once when the wind was
    so bad setting up camp was impossible, and visibility was so low I
    didn't want to risk taking my truck back down the trail. I dragged a sleeping bag up in the cab and slept fitfully through the night as the
    wind hammered the truck back and forth. Once I got both thumbs caught in
    a double long spring from the bottom side and had to dig holes in the
    sand for my elbows, so I had enough room to get my knees up on the
    springs. I broke through the crust over sugar sand and had to back my
    truck out 3-4 feet at a time with a piece of plywood for several hundred yards because flattening the tires wasn't enough to drive out. I once
    caught 21 fox in 18 traps in one night. It was the hardest I ever worked
    in my life, and the only job I ever truly loved. If I could have done it
    for a living I would have, but the fur market went bust the second
    season and I didn't even break even.

    There are a lot of memories and a few THINGS I remember from those
    months on the trail. One was an inexpensive skillet. I had other kitchen wear in camp of course, but that skillet was just perfect. It wasn't a
    heavy well-seasoned cast iron skillet either. I like food cooked in one
    of those, but I'll leave the care and tending of cast iron to somebody
    else. My favorite skillet, and I've not found one exactly like it since,
    was aluminum. It was heavy thick aluminum with a nonstick coating and a
    long wood handle. Felt like oak, but it could have been anything. The
    thick aluminum spread heat evenly, the nonstick coating was, with the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, better than any I have used since,
    and the wood handle didn't burn my hand when I lifted the skillet off
    the shovel hole full of coals in the ground.

    I often had a fire for heat through the night. I carried a stove in the truck, but most morning I'd dig two small shovel bites in the ground
    near my fire and dump a shovel full of coals in each one. One for my
    coffee pot, and one for my breakfast. Like having a stove burner on the ground. Often at night after cooking dinner I'd run some water (I
    carried plenty) in the skillet, but more than once I burrowed into my
    bag before doing proper cleanup. Many times I dumped the cake of ice out
    of the skillet in the morning and put it right on my shovel full of coals.

    I didn't baby it. I'm not sure I had anything other than the regular
    metal implements. Maybe I had a PTFE spatula. I don't remember. I sure
    as heck didn't have silicone. It held up to normal use and careless handling, and it was still non-stick after a few years of use.

    When I was going "back" to college I rented a trailer lot and acquired a "travel" trailer. Bigger than most travel trailers, but maybe not quite
    as big as a mobile home. It was cheaper than living in the dorms, and it gave me more freedom. I had a big lot, and working on a car outside was
    not even in the way. I had room for my car, truck, motorcycles, and a
    tool shed with plenty of room to spare. I had that skillet then.
    Sometime after that it disappeared along with my surplus store US Army machete. The one with the good stiff blade, and the fat handle that was comfortable in my hand.

    I know I probably never will find one, but I've been looking for a
    skillet like that ever since. If I found one, I'd probably buy three of them.

    Its better than I remember. Seriously. The old used Mirro "Teflon 2"
    coated skillet works better than I remember. I've used it 9 days out of
    10 since I got it, and it just works. I was afraid it wouldn't be as
    good as I remembered, but its better. I bought two more, and found some matching (I hope) Mirro glass lids for them.
    --
    Bob La Londe
    CNC Molds N Stuff
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Jim Wilkins@muratlanne@gmail.com to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Dec 14 18:17:23 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    "Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:10hmrio$8kmi$1@dont-email.me...
    ...
    Its better than I remember. Seriously. The old used Mirro "Teflon 2"
    coated skillet works better than I remember. I've used it 9 days out of
    10 since I got it, and it just works. I was afraid it wouldn't be as
    good as I remembered, but its better. I bought two more, and found some matching (I hope) Mirro glass lids for them.
    Bob La Londe

    ------------------------------

    Good for you!

    Cast iron is good enough for my basement wood stove. I mostly have what my mother left and my sister didn't want. The selection was large since Mom worked in and understood Probate and took care of elderly relatives, then
    sold what she could and pushed the rest on us. I hardly ever bought new furniture or lawn and garden equipment.

    A friend tried trapping and took me along, so I learned what to look for and how to skin them without damage. He quit when the price collapsed. I tanned
    a couple of deer hides in a trash can in the bathroom. Learning primitive skills made me appreciate my nice clean job in electronics, I could go
    logging for firewood only when I felt like it.

    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Bob La Londe@none@none.com99 to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Dec 14 18:03:25 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On 12/14/2025 4:17 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
    "Bob La Londe"-a wrote in message news:10hmrio$8kmi$1@dont-email.me...
    ...
    Its better than I remember.-a Seriously.-a The old used Mirro "Teflon 2" coated skillet works better than I remember.-a I've used it 9 days out of
    10 since I got it, and it just works.-a I was afraid it wouldn't be as
    good as I remembered, but its better.-a I bought two more, and found some matching (I hope) Mirro glass lids for them.
    Bob La Londe

    ------------------------------

    Good for you!

    Cast iron is good enough for my basement wood stove. I mostly have what
    my mother left and my sister didn't want. The selection was large since
    Mom worked in and understood Probate and took care of elderly relatives, then sold what she could and pushed the rest on us. I hardly ever bought
    new furniture or lawn and garden equipment.

    A friend tried trapping and took me along, so I learned what to look for
    and how to skin them without damage. He quit when the price collapsed.

    My best year trapping was the year the price collapsed.

    I
    tanned a couple of deer hides in a trash can in the bathroom. Learning primitive skills made me appreciate my nice clean job in electronics, I could go logging for firewood only when I felt like it.

    --
    Bob La Londe
    CNC Molds N Stuff
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Gerry@geraldrmiller@yahoo.ca to rec.crafts.metalworking on Sun Dec 14 23:07:49 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.crafts.metalworking

    On Sun, 14 Dec 2025 18:17:23 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
    <muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:

    "Bob La Londe" wrote in message news:10hmrio$8kmi$1@dont-email.me...
    ...
    Its better than I remember. Seriously. The old used Mirro "Teflon 2"
    coated skillet works better than I remember. I've used it 9 days out of
    10 since I got it, and it just works. I was afraid it wouldn't be as
    good as I remembered, but its better. I bought two more, and found some >matching (I hope) Mirro glass lids for them.
    Bob La Londe

    ------------------------------

    Good for you!

    Cast iron is good enough for my basement wood stove. I mostly have what my >mother left and my sister didn't want. The selection was large since Mom >worked in and understood Probate and took care of elderly relatives, then >sold what she could and pushed the rest on us. I hardly ever bought new >furniture or lawn and garden equipment.

    A friend tried trapping and took me along, so I learned what to look for and >how to skin them without damage. He quit when the price collapsed. I tanned >a couple of deer hides in a trash can in the bathroom. Learning primitive >skills made me appreciate my nice clean job in electronics, I could go >logging for firewood only when I felt like it.
    When I turned sixteen I became full partner in my fathers registered
    trap zone, the next year after I received my license to drive, I
    purchased my first car when we sold our fall harvest.
    --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2