An interesting challenge for us. The TH&B pan endured a 9″ crack during a cookout where we didn’t bring the pan slowly or evenly to heat. In retrospect it seemed obvious that expanding metal wouldn’t do well with the crease of a swallowtail. We’ve had it inspected by a few welders with some knowledge of cast iron. A few attempts were made to seal the crack, but again a localized intense heat applied to the pan just gave birth to newer, tinier cracks, radiating like miniature rivers from their source. It’s interesting, because these flaws make the pan less useful, but somehow make the art object more resonant.

This experience has had an impact on our ongoing work to forge a set of Great Lakes Pans, and we are now re-adjusting our scale and thickness to hopefully endure the ambitions we have for them. That being said, the idea of iron lakes cracking under intense social activity does have a kind of ring to it.