manureman Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 How does parkerizing affect bolts and receviers,as in head space,lapped lugs and polished race ways or does it ? Since I'm only doing a few guns a year I'm wondering about storing the solution,is it bad to evaporate and do you have to protect it from freezing.I don't keep my shop heated so I was wondering what to do with it when not useing it, just make a lid for my tank when building it and just put the lid on it and forget it till I need it or pour it in plastic buckets with lids and set it in the basement of the house?And do you'all prefer zink or manganese and why?Thanks Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 No real answers, but I parked a bunch of M1 parts recently and so I can share a bit of tyro experience. I went with manganese because I wanted a darker color. I'd read that zinc was better in-terms of particle size (smaller and better finish) but was lighter. From what I read iron has the largest particle size, but of course this is what I had on hand and I'm an impatient Bubba and so I did some of the parts with iron. The iron batch I did turned-out great. I used a combination of distilled water (about a quart) with about 50 ml of phosphoric acid concrete cleaner that I got from Home Depot (I'll let you know about its concrete cleaning capabilities later when I get around to it) and about 20 gm of Ferric chloride that I had in the lab. I used a meat thermometer to keep it at about 190* in a porcelin-lined small pot that I had from when I used to camp before having kids. I bead-blasted the parts (using a cheap Harbor Freight cabinet that my wife ordered for me for my birthday a couple of years ago - without any hints or even asking - damn I married well!), suspended them using bailing wire in the hot solution for about 15 min and they came-out very nice. Most were a Navy ship grey, but nice. Color varied depending on part. I ordered a pound of manganese (oxide, I think, I don't remember right now but I'll check) from a guy on EvilBay at reasonable cost. Using essentially the same procedure but substitution the manganese salt for the iron the parts came out much darker. I left them in longer because I got distracted (I love my kids). The parts are fine but they were "cooked" a bit too long and the dimensions changed enough to tell. The way I could tell is that I did a Garand front sight that turned-out jet black just like I wanted but it was too easy to install (which wasn't a real problem because it's secured on its dove tail by a nice, big screw) but when shooting it with LC M2 ball it now only needs 4 clicks of elevation when it used to need 12. No specific answers, but hopefully some interesting info. I thought about parkerizing a Garand action before this, but after I realize that in my Bubba hands there is potential for changing dimensions, and a nice, well-worn action is a nice well-lapped action and is probably better before Parking (by me) than after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 DT thanks for the reply I'm glad to get any input I can,what did you use for a post treatment solution/nuetralizer?And yes it is interesting info and you did marry well! Thanks Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted October 14, 2006 Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 I use the Radocy Zinc park. Closer to the WW2 color than the manganese, which would be Korean Era and post. Though it seems both were used during that time period. As I have a couple of Garands that are post Korean era that are the Grey Green of WW2. Radocy is reusable. I keep it stored in a 5 gal water jug for reuse. It can give a dark park color depending on it base. I reparked a dark colored barrel with the zinc, and the barrel came out dark like managanese. In the attached photo, receveirs 1(877XXX) and 3(2.38 mil) I reparked. The other 3 are original. The 6th, far right, has dark park, manganese, and is a post Korean war gun. An added bonus with the lighter zinc park, is the ability to see a "lead dipped heal" on Garand receivers. This is a rather interesting coloration on many WW2 receivers. I included a photo, the lead dipped heal shows up as the darker rear portion of the reciever. The darker manganese park would hide or make it much more difficult to see. Also, I don't sand blast my recievers, I bead blast them with glass beads I get from Harbor Freight. Usually about 80-100 grit. It gives a finer, smoother finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doble Troble Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Jim, I just took them out of the pot, rinsed them with hot tap water, let them dry (they dried fast because of the hot water), and then oiled them up with 3-in-1. I bet a brief soak in a basic solution might be called for - maybe a few minutes in a baking soda solution (about a tbsp per pint - good after chili dogs too), then hot water rinse and oil. Sailormilan, if I were to do an action like you have I think I'd go with a respected commercial solution - thanks for the post about your experience with Radocy, your results look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted October 15, 2006 Report Share Posted October 15, 2006 Don't store it in the shop. I move all the chemicals (except oil bases) to the basement this time of year. I don't like suprises come January. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manureman Posted October 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Sailormilan2,very nice!And thanks for both the info and the pictures it's a big help. DT & Don thanks for your sound advice it's also appreceated. I was able to get my stainless sheared and bent friday and was able to mig weld the thickest pieces yesterday into a 6w x 9d x 40l pan but just dont have the skill as a welder to mig my thinner stuff,tried on some scrap and saw right away I was going to have to do something else(this was expected).Just by dumb luck I found out a friend of mine has a tig and is pretty good with it,I can't believe I didn't know this I've been looking for someone to tig stuff for me for several years...He has my metal now and says when he's ready to do it he'll call me and let me watch and then let me spend some time on his machine!!! I'm like a kid waitin' on Christmas.I just wish I had more free time to do this kind of stuff I just get to hit it in spurts and this ones about over. Thanks again guys, Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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