Restore an Antique Cast Iron Cauldron / Family Heirloom

My wife's great-grandfather owned this old cast iron cauldron/pot that was used for many years as a plat holder. Over the years, it cracked and the bottom completely rusted & rotted away. Instead of throwing away this family heirloom, I decided to use some fiberglass resin and a fresh coat of paint to restore this item and use it in our backyard.

Supplies

This build was pretty simple.

I bought a can of fiberglass resin from Amazon, along with a small pack of fiberglass cloth.

I also used a small can of gloss black oil-based paint.

These wire brush drill attachments help to remove the old rust & scale

I'm a fan of the Dewalt cordless tools - I used the Dewalt cordless drill

I also used a screwdriver to chip off some of the toughest scale

You also need a pair of rubber gloves

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Step 1: Clean / Prep the Pot

As you can see by the photos, this pot was pretty destroyed from age & rust.

I used a screwdriver to chip away some of the toughest scale & rust.

I then used wire brushes on a cordless drill to clean all of the old loose paint and rust from this pot.

Step 2: Fit the Fiberglass Cloth

Once the surfaces were clean, I cut 2 pieces of fiberglass cloth to fit the bottom of the pot as shown.

Step 3: Mix Your Resin & Hardener / Apply the Mix

Following the instructions on the resin can, I mixed 1/4 of the can of resin with 1/4 of the tube of harder.

You get about 12 minutes of working time once the chemicals are mixed.

I painted a coat of resin into the bottom of the pot before placing the first fiberglass cloth sheet.

I then painted a coat of resin onto the first sheet of fiberglass cloth, making sure it was plenty wet before lying a second cloth over the first.

I painted another coat of fiberglass resin over the second cloth, making a solid new bottom to this damaged pot.

Step 4: Allow to Dry / Then Paint

After 2-3 hours, the fiberglass is completely dry and hard.

I then painted 2 coats of the rustoleum gloss black paint and allowed it to dry fully

Once dry, I drilled a few holes in the bottom to allow water to pass because we planned to use this as an outdoor planter.

Step 5: Finished Product

Once the paint was completely dry, I placed a handful of crushed stone in the bottom before filling with potting soil. My wife and I then planted these flowers into the pot and displayed it on the deck/ramp of our new outdoor shed.

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