Time to go to the dark side...

[Bogie]

I have a little time on my hands - job hunting a bit, but not hopping on the first thing.
 
So, tomorrow I'm probably gonna get a cast iron griddle or griddle pan. Probably Lodge.
 
And I'm going to take it out to the workshop, and see what kind of finish I can get.

[Bogie]

Compared the Lodge pans (Walmart) with the Ikea ones, and it seems like Ikea is thicker/heavier? Since I'm going to be taking off the surface for the inside bottom, may as well go with Ikea?

[T.O.M.]

Might want to try thrift shops.  Save some money if you can find a "vintage" griddle that suits you.  Most old cast iron beats what's being made now.

[Bogie]

The thrift shops around here have stuff get snapped up pretty rapidly... There are several I will hit, but hasn't been great lately - Got lucky at a hock shop the other day, scored a Nikon D300S that appears to work fine, along with a 24-70 2.8 Nikon lens, also appears fine, which sells for $1600 new, for a total of $160. Their guns were overpriced, of course.
 
With the cast iron, I'm going to be sanding the inside bottom, probably to about 3,000 grit (not that I'll see much after about 1200 or so, but hey...). Then when you have the mirror finish, couple of rounds of seasoning, good to go.