fritz Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Anyone have any experience with the Lauer manganese phosphate parkerizing solution? I ordered a gallon of it, just for the heck of it. A gallon should be enough to immerse a barrel in. fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiris Posted March 21, 2006 Report Share Posted March 21, 2006 Yes Fritz, I have used the Lauer phosphate mix and was very happy with the results. I got better results using a little more concentrated mix. I think it's a 4 to 1 standard ratio and I ended up about 3 1/2 to 1. Keep the temp at a good 190 to 195 degrees and it leaves a beautiful finish on clean metal. Spiris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted March 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Thanks Spiris, I have all the tanks, heater, etc. I just need to read the instructions when I get it. I'm getting bored with hot bluing and bake-on lacquers, so I thought I'd give the parkerizing a shot. Besides, some of the old guns I mess with were originally parkerized. I have a gas tube on a M1 Garand that needs touching up. fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 fritz, my understand is that the gas tube on a Garand is stainless steel and won't parkerize. That might a good spot for a bake on paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbamauser Posted March 22, 2006 Report Share Posted March 22, 2006 Fritz, I got this formula off of another board, I used it on a old 22 with great results, try some on junk parts first though, to see what you think. I knew parkerizing was generally easy, but this was ridiculous! I went from concept to finished test part in less than an hour. Procedure: Go to Home Depot and buy a quart of "Aqua Mix" phosphoric acid cleaner. Look in the ceramic tile section for this stuff. At home, send your wife shopping, then steal a stainless pot that won't be used for food, ever again. Don safety glasses and gloves. Add water (distilled preferable) to the pot. Note how many onces you added. In a 1:24 ratio, add the phosphoric acid cleaner to the water. IOW, if you have 96 ounces of water, add 4 ounces of acid. Turn the heat to slightly above medium. Degrease a chunk of steel wool by soaping it up with Dawn or similar, and add a chunk to the pot, about 1/8th of a biscuit per gallon. It'll begin to fizzle. Prep your part. I won't go into detail. It must be CLEAN, and FREE OF OILS. Bead blast, or yopu can use 220 grit wet/dry or a scotchbrite pad to coarsen the surface. For the part in the picture, I simply soaked it in hot "Dawn" while the brew heated. Rinse the part before immersion. Hang it from iron wire, this makes it easy to handle. Heat the brew until it is almost boiling. You'll see some steam, and maybe some bubbles on the side of the pot, but it isn't boiling. Keep the heat there. Immerse the part. Wait 20 to 40 minutes. Rinse in hot water. Soak in WD-40 for a while. The resultant park was as nice as anything I've seen commercially. It was ridiculously easy and cheap. Standard disclaimers... don't be stupid, don't piss off your wife, don't drink acid or bathe in it, etc etc. Be a grown-up. Neutralize it with baking soda and discard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted March 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 The gas tube did not parkerize, because it was either stainless or nickle steel. It was magnetic though. But the front sight did take on a good grey/black color, as did the other parts I had in the batch. The brushed stainless color looks pretty good-- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/fritz/gastube.jpg fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 frits, if you need to refinish that gas tube on the Garand, you might try heat resistant stove paint. Something they spray on BBQs. Supposed to work pretty good, though I haven't tried it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fritz Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Actually, I think it turned out better than if it had taken on the grey of parkerizing. The blasted finish changed to a more pleasant brushed finish in the parkerizing. The photo does not show the true color of the front sight (which was bleached out by the flash). It is the dark grey of the parkerizing while the non-ferrous gas tube is a pleasing brushed stainless. I have determined that parkerizing is not for everything, but it has merit on many battle rifles. And it is easy to do. Once starting on this, you will find that many parts are too high in nickle content to parkerize. I found that the buttplates on the Yugo M48 do not turn the dark grey color. They must have a high nickle steel content. fritz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscoedoh Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Fritz, Did your parkerizing require more than one tank and would it be something I might like to look into? I aim to try slow rust bluing this summer, but I'm always looking for something quick and simple. Also, does parkerizing solution get hot enough to screw with soft or High Force 44 Solder? I have two parkerized rifles already and I'm pleased enough with the finish. It is not bluing and looks out of place on a classic, but it does seem virtually indestructable and very nearly rust proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic1 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 bubba what color is this park on the gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Jason, I just use one ss tank (welded from a bottle tb from the local bar) and a camp stove. The chemicals I use only require 190 deg temp, so no problem with solders. -Don sonic, here's a pic of the color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_Bubbamauser_* Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Sonic It came out a medium grey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubbamauser Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Forgot to log in. I would have posted a picture but it became a birthday present, next time I see my cousin i'll take a picture of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Well, I tried parkerizing for the first time yesterday. I got one of those Ugly Black Rack Grade Greek M1s from the CMP. I broke down and got some glass beads yesterday, and got to work. One problem I immediately ran into was that my compresor isn't big enough. I was told to use about 90 psi. That drains my compressor real fast. I have a tendancy to hold my work too close to the nozzle due to a small work box, so maybe I will back it off to 70 psi or so. Anyway, I used Radocy Park solution. Nice WW2 grey color. I tried it on a reweld Garand reciever, and it shows the welded area. So, I will probably have to switch that to the Black manganese phosphate. I did notice that different parts five different colors from the same solution. I did 2 Garand milled triggergaurds and one stamped triggerguard, and the milled ones came out grey, and the stamped one almost black. But, I was really impressed, nice smooth geey color with a hint of green. Anyway, here is some photos of before and after: http://www.geocities.com/sailormilan2/000_0727.jpg http://www.geocities.com/sailormilan2/000_0728.jpg http://www.geocities.com/sailormilan2/000_0740.jpg http://www.geocities.com/sailormilan2/000_0742.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Nice work, sailiormilan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Thanks, fritz. Natalie at Radocy (Natalie Radocy) told me the solution is reusable, however when I tried reheating it didn't seem to work. She likes to use it at the low end of the temp scale, about 160* F. It takes about 20 minutes at that temp. Now to work on my Carbine I am trying to save after some fool before me took it apart with a pipe wrench. Working on doing a total restore, but I don't know if my budget can handle the cost of the early parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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