I'm in the process of restoring a badly neglected Griswold No. 8 waffle iron (885 886 if it makes any difference). I've got all of the cast iron parts stripped down and re-seasoned and just started working on the badly rusted Alaskan coil handles. I got the majority of the rust off with a long carbonic acid bath and some light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper, but found some unexpected bright areas that almost look like the remains of hot galvanization:
I'd like to give them an authentic finish, but I can't find any information as to what the factory finish (if any) was on the handles. Does anyone know if they were galvanized, or if not, how they were finished?