Straightening an aluminium pan?

[Doki]

I dropped an aluminium pan on the floor the other day. Despite being made of

3 or 4mm thick alloy, it's now got a flatspot on the rim (The rims' not flanged like a normal pan, which why it probably bent so easily). It's also teflon coated, so getting really abusive with it isn't going to work well. Has anyone got any ideas on how to straigten it out so I can get the lid on it again? Other than dent the lid to fit ;).

[Cicero]

================================== Cut a piece of 4" x 1"(or to suit)wood to the correct inner profile of the pan. Place the profiled piece of wood inside the rim and use a large G-clamp to pull the rim into shape against the wooden profile. Protect the outer rim from damage by the G-clamp with a small wood offcut. I think you'll need all three hands to do this.

Cic.

[Dave]

I don't think that will work, as the aluminium has to be pushed further than its desired return point.

Try this method if you can get access to a vice.

Put the above mentioned piece of wood in the vice underneath the jaws of the vice and use a soft faced hammer to work the flat out by holding the pan so that the wood only contacts with the lip of the pan. This angle should only be slight to the side of the pan and then use only a light tapping, just below the bottom of the flat, until the pan side comes back to shape. If the flat is deep, you should take care to make the lower part of the flat come out just after you take out some of the rim flat. Take care, as once the metal gets stretched, it will not return to its original shape.

Or

get your hands on a small bag of sand and make sure that it is damp. Get someone to hold the pan down on the sandbag and use the wood mentioned above inside the pan and lightly tap it round the rim.

Both ways I have suggested may not remove all the depth of the flat, but it should allow you to put a lid on it after working the aluminium.

Aluminium pans start life as a flat piece of metal and are spun, using machine something like a short bed lathe and by using a tool to shape it, or more likely, they are now pressed. It follows that the aluminium is quite soft, so mind how you go with the tapping. Aluminium that is soft, only gets strength from shape.

HTH

Dave

[Cicero]

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

================================== The profile of the piece of wood can be changed to produce a greater amount of 'push' if necessary, but it probably won't be necessary as a saucepan lid isn't usually a close fit. Steady pressure is more likely to succeed than hammering, especially on a coated surface.

[Dave]

I didn't intend the OP to hit the coating, just the outside of the pan, or the wood inside :-)

As long as he gets the pan back to shape and doesn't damage the coating, he has 3 ways to do it :-)

TBH aluminium pans are not that durable anyway. I have a great ally frying pan, with a very thick base, that I am trying to recondition by putting oil in it, wiping it round and heating it till it smokes its head off. It's only recently I found out I was using the wrong oil :-(

Dave

[Clot]

What? We still use an ally frying fan that I obtained via Greenshield Stamps back in the 1960s. It's still got its Teflon coat - though compromised- but still working well, whilst I'm not into my dotage, it's now too big for an omelette for me, but regularly used by our 20x kids!

We had an Ally Pressure Cooker that was from the early 1950s until I lent it to someone that I forgot and therefore lost. Most of our pans other than the Wok, a cast iron fry pan and one boiling pan are the exceptions. There is not a problem. Look after your assets and don't squander our resources.

[Dave]

I was talking about the physical durability, not the cooking one. :-)

Dave

[Frank Erskine]

On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 21:37:38 -0000, "Doki" had this to say:

Obviously you didn't do proper metalwork at school!

You need a sandbag and a bossing mallet...