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Posted: 12/28/2007 11:48:08 AM EDT
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So has anyone thought about getting an inexpensive galvanized tank and setting up a double boiler setup w/ a plastic container w/ the parts to be parkerized in? Are there any other metals that parkerizing solution will NOT react to when heated? ETA How about using an old stainless steel kitchen sink w/a BBQ?? Or a Stainless beverage tub? |
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Park solution is a mild acid and will eat the galvanizing and then become contaminated with it. You need SS or porcelin coated pans for parking. I made my own 40" SS pans. I use a small black porcelin coated roasting pan to do pistols. SS restaurant steam table pans work great too. You only need the solution at 180 degrees. Not alot of heat input. A old Coleman stove will do it fine. |
I did it the same any good libtard would go about it. I had a need and made someone else fill that need! Easy, right?  Seriously though. I bought a couple 4' x 4' sheets of 11 gage SS from a local scrap yard. Back then my son was in a Vo-Tech that had a huge bending brake and hydraulic shear. He cut 8" off each end with a shear, folded me up two 40" pans and then made the end pieces from the 8" material he had sheared off and shaped them with a plasma cutter. He TIG welded the ends on for me. I then reinforced the ends with a MIG welder on the inside seam and made a SS handle for one end of each pan. They weigh about 35# each. Heavy thick SOB's! No need for a heat diffuser plate with these puppies! We're both welders so we can build cool stuff like this for ourselves. 
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I've seen parking done twice with PVC pipe on a FAL rec with barrel, and an AK47, and he did it this way specifically because he didnt have a tank big enough. I took notes, cause this stuff sounded important, and from seeing his other work, he REALLY does know what he's doing/talking about. First he choose what park recipe he'll be using.(manganese) He heated the park solution in a big stainless pot with a candy thermometer to temp over a simple propane camp stove for the FAL, and I then saw him do it on a sideburner of a gas grill for an AK47. He used a 4 inch(possibly bigger, didnt list size, just big enough) PVC pipe with a length of about 3 feet and a cap glued on one end. He'd plug the barrell and breech (he had rubber plugs, as well as cork) and tape off what he didnt want parked. Bead blast, spray and scrub with brake cleaner twice. Wear rubber gloves, NO FINGERPRINTS or bare skin touching parts before the park!! Get the nooks and crannies clean too!!! Put it into the PVC tube. He'd get the park solution heated to about 190 degrees, and pour it in till it covered the ENTIRE piece he was parking, and stand it up next to his bench in the garage. About 20 minutes later it was parked perfectly. I'm really glad I took notes on that one  Learned a LOT that weekend, along with a couple of different park recipes too. (FTR I like manganese best) Surface prep and cleaning is the MOST important step.(That was in my notes with big bold letters with stars, so I guess that its important too!)He stated (in my notes) he'd keep the solution a little hotter than usual because it will cool very very quickly once its poured in over the action, and by the time you fill the tube, its sitting at about 180 degrees and at that point you're at a good/perfect parking temp. Plus it gives a few more minutes of park time for whatever you put in the PVC pipe. I dont remember if he re-used the solution or not, I'll have to call him and find out. (Edit, I called, and he uses his solution about three times, and then disposes of it. He said it probably could be tweaked back to full strength by adding more acid and distilled water, but he just makes a new batch after about 3 uses. He home brews all of his own stuff. Another trick was he'd use a small stainless steel strainer to park small parts, he'd just put them in the strainer, swish em around in the pot on the burner, and when the fizzing stopped, they were done.) This will be the process I'll be using for finishing my AK next month at the build party. Park and then an immediate teflon/moly coat for the barrel and action. Hang it in my grill for curing (which has a temp gauge on the front  ) . Its a kickass idea for those of us without BIG tanks, or means and money for em.
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I've used a camping double burner. I even used a hot plate (took a long time to get the heat up). The biggest issue seemed to be properly mixing and aging (not sure if aging is the right term) the park solution, and cleaning then cleaning then cleaning again the parts to ensure no grease is on them, and then cleaning them again just to be sure. For containers, I used cheap pyrex from garage sales for most smaller parts and even receivers. Long parts I only tried once - used a stainless steel refractory mortar pan (pretty cheap) and it worked fine. I haven't tried a barrel yet. I'm scared of messing up and not blocking the muzzle and breech well enough. ETA: I didn't know you could use PVC pipe. I thought the acid would eat it and contaminate the solution. This will be good to know for the future. |
Do you remember if he used white or black pvc? |
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Go to the local scrap metal recycler and look in the stainless steel pile. You're sure to find some nice big restaurant style stainless tanks, or or other suitable hardware, that's very suitable for making a parkerizing tank. Don't use PVC. It can't take the heat and it can leach chemicals into the bath and cause problems. Porcelain would be acceptable, as would pyrex glass, but stainless is best. CJ |
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18" SS restaurant pans are easy to find. Long enough to do the barrel assembly and then the receiver and then you press them together afterwards to finish the assembly. Or... Just get two 18" pans and cut the ends off and weld together. SS is not difficult to weld. Use a backing strip and it becomes a even simpler job. |
S.CHOOL T.AG For use as a future reference/bookmarking, or basis of searching for this thread later when I will likely find more time to read & digest the information better, as well as use it for the sake of accomplishing my own project(s).
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Synweap223- do you (or anyone else) have parkerizing recipes that have worked well at creating a nice even coat and have held up to abrasion well? I'm not asking for the "well, I saw this in a book once, but never tried it" type of recipes. I've got those! H3PO4, I'm interesting primarily in Mn phosphating because it seems the most durable. I don't want to put paint on top, just oil. Also, has anyone else used recipes based on manganese dioxide? My MnO2 doesn't dissolve completely- a lot just sits at the bottom of the tank. I'll have to try to get better MnO2 I guess. |
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Brownell's mag park concentrate is about $50 a gallon and will dilute to about 6 gallons of working solution. It works great and is very forgiving of being abused. Frankly, it works better with some use on it. It's great stuff. For that cost, why try making your own that may be less than adequate? |
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Sorry guys, just checking back in on this thread. Hectic holiday isnt over yet As to what type of PVC, it was white, and heavy walled stuff from what I remember, and a couple of caps. One secured to the bottom with PVC cement, and the other unglued just to cap it off. I witnessed and handled two rifles parked this way in these 4inch(maybe bigger) diameter tubes, and the results were fine, and he's used the same tubes for a while now. I'll be duplicating the process soon myself for an upcoming build party. As for the mix he used, and recipe he gave to me for the manganese park bath was obtained from the net some time ago, and I dont know whose recipe it is exactly, but I'll post it anyhow. Would love to credit who made it, cause it worked real well I have one for zinc too, but i havent actually done that one(yet). As usual, Disclaimer inserted here. Practice on unimportant stuff first, and you're responsible for your own actions. ETC, Yada, yada.....Right from my crusty grease covered notebook: Home Parkerizing Notes Rubber gloves (Handle NOTHING being parked without em) 2 Cheap large stainless steel pots (one for bath, one for rinse) Steel wool biscuit(thoroughly degreased!!) 12 cups distilled water(3/4 gallon) 2-3 tablespoons of Manganese Dioxide(more or less to taste) 1/2 to 3/4 cup Jasco Prep & primer(for the acid content) Bailing wire (machinist wire, black wire)to hang the parts in the bath(degrease them too) Oil (for finishing) or use heat gun to dry parts and immediately paint with LIGHT coats. bake etc. to instructions. Candy thermometer Stainless mixing utensils, and a stainless screen strainer is handy for the tiny parts. WD-40 (so it doesnt RUST in front of your eyes when you're done) Follow the rules, Work in a well ventilated area. Safety gear ALWAYS so cover up and dont get hurt, Acid into water ONLY! Prep parts via bead blast or sanding. Degrease EVERYTHING thats going into the bath three times. Its really easy to contaminate the bath. That includes the wire. Dont touch this stuff barehanded or it WILL contaminate the bath. Tie up your pieces with wire so they float in the middle of the bath, not on the bottom. Set aside. Mix water and Manganese, and heat on medium. Get bath to and keep a constant temp between 180-190 degrees (candy thermometer). Add Jasco. When steaming but NOT boiling, drop in steel wool. Let that fizz for a couple of minutes, then add your parts to be parked. Depending on steel carbon composition, it may have to sit in the bath longer, or heat added. Typical time is about 20 minutes. Fizzing means its working. Pull them out and immediately rinse in hot water, and A- set them on paper towels and spray with WD-40, let them cool. Wipe down with paper towels and then oil with your favorite or B- pull from hot rinse, heat till dry with heat gun or hair dryer, wipe with paper towel and spray immediately with paint of choice. Barreled Recievers Prep and degrease barreled reciever 3 times. Make and heat park solution to 190 degrees. You can keep the solution a little hotter than usual because it will cool very very quickly once its poured in over the action, and by the time you fill the tube, its sitting at about 180 degrees, and at that point you're at a good/perfect parking temp. Plus it gives a few more minutes of park time for whatever you put in the PVC pipe. Plug the barrel and place into PVC tube. CAREFULLY fill tube with bath solution till it covers parts. Dont pour in the sludge at the bottom(whats left of the steel biscuit). Stand it up somewhere secure. Cap it if you want. Check on it in about 20 minutes. If done, hot rinse, WD-40, cool and wipedown, then oil. If not Check your parts for contamination, if they are, discard bath and start again. The enemy is GREASE!So CLEAN EM UP GOOD! For painting, same as B-section above When doing small parts, a gallon is good, barreled actions and recievers make two so you have enough to cover. "All these measurements can be tweaked a bit (manganese, and Jasco), but this formula produced very acceptable results." We worked on his patio outdoors so ventilation was good, and he had his garage door open so he just leaned the tubes up against his bench. This stuff gives off gasses when cooking so be CAREFUL! Part of the fun of this stuff is experimenting with the amounts of the ingredients. He also stated that he'll add more manganese if he wanted a darker park. He added it with a Ice Tea scoop on the second bath When I was wiping them down afterwards, I noticed the park loading up a little on the paper towels and he said "some of it wipes off on the rag after parking, but thats normal. As long as the part is still covered in manganese and its sticking to them, its fine" Hope that helps!! PS I really wanted to learn this process so I could apply a super durable Brownells Teflon/Moly coat to some of my firearms, and was lucky enough to meet a WECSOG type of guy that showed me how. This is a GREAT base for spray on finishes for the same reason its great for retaining oil. And by spraying over park the paint is adhering to the manganese, which in turn has been acid etched to your gun, providing a very secure adhesion, and offers much better wear resistance compared to just the paint alone. |
Yep. I did a BM .223 this way 10 years ago, every single part. Traded to a friend, & he still has people ask how his "factory finish" has held up so well. |
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