Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
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  1. #11
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Dave Donley at Donley*s on 309 used to. I don*t know if he still does. It wouldn*t hurt to ask.
    Accuse your enemy of what you are doing as you are doing it to create confusion -Karl Marx

  2. #12
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Quote Originally Posted by RockIsland View Post
    Dave Donley at Donley's on 309 used to. I don't know if he still does. It wouldn't hurt to ask.
    Timing is everything. I was just down at EGW this morning. I should have stopped into see Dave.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    DIY!

    The chemicals can be had online from Ebay to Midway. I did it on the side burner of my gas gril. All ya need is a stainless pan and thermometer. Glass-bead everything first. Clean metal is a must.
    I don't speak English , I talk American!

  4. #14
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    Richboro, Pennsylvania
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Quote Originally Posted by abner13 View Post
    DIY!

    The chemicals can be had online from Ebay to Midway. I did it on the side burner of my gas gril. All ya need is a stainless pan and thermometer. Glass-bead everything first. Clean metal is a must.
    Yes, You can't have a speck of oil on the parts or it will screw up your whole bath and that part is more work than the park step. Getting a slide totally clean can be a PITA. It is highly recommended to bead blast the parts but I usually got a good dark park with out one. Here is the original internet recipe from years ago. You might find a better procedure online now but this one works for me. Do it outside.

    Kitchen Stove Parkerizing
    By Dick Culver
    NOTE: I originally gave this formula to an interested individual when we were posting on the Ohio site, but it was lost in the transfer. I publish it again here with the disclaimer that I don't wanna be responsible for anyone ruining a $1000 part or becoming a vegetable from inhaling the fumes from some noxious brew. Ive done it on numerous occasions with no ill effect (some will differ in their opinion of my mental state of course) but if you choose to play around with chemical formulas, you are strictly on your own!
    ROC

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR "HOME-BREW" PARKERIZING:
    You need a number of things to do a "home-brew" "Parker-job", but only 4 ingredients.
    1. Phosphoric Acid (the active ingredient in Naval Jelly) usually procured at a chemical supply house.
    2. Powdered Manganese Dioxide (a very dense and heavy dark gray to black powder) also available at any chemical supply house.
    3. Distilled water (I've used tap water, but the distilled stuff gives more consistent results.
    4. A biscuit of steel wool (don't use soap pads or Brillo pads!)
    I used to do this on the kitchen stove (I wasn't married in those days) in a one gallon Pyrex beaker (these little beasts are expensive, so be careful with them). Metal pots don’t work as well (if at all) I understand, but then I never used anything else but Pyrex.

    Proceed as follows:
    1. Use one whiskey jigger (yeah, this is really scientific, right?) of phosphoric acid added to the water. Remember your high school chemistry, ALWAYS add the acid to the water, and it is best done by pouring it down a glass rod!
    2. Use one whiskey jigger of the (powdered) Manganese Dioxide in the solution.
    3. Bring the solution to an extremely slooowwww rolling boil .
    4. Now add your biscuit of steel wool.
    I used wooden sticks placed across the top of the beaker and suspended the parts in the solution using steel or iron "machinist’s wire or some such. DON’T use painted coat hangers or any wire with grease on it! You can usually get this stuff from a machine shop or from Brownell's.
    The parts should be totally immersed in the solution, being careful that anywhere the wire touches the part won't show on the finished part (usually easy to do like in the firing pin hole of a bolt). The part(s) to be Parkerized should be totally "de-greased" and sand or bead blasted prior to finishing (depending on the texture you desire on the finished part). Once you have bead blasted the part, you should handle the part with gloves (never greasy hands) and store them wrapped in clean paper towels awaiting the Parker Bath. Any grease on the parts or wire will cause what can only be politely called a variation in color (the parts come out streaked and spotted like a "paint horse").
    I usually let the part remain in the solution for a total of 20 minutes (less MAY work, but I was told 20 minutes so that's what I used and it worked marvelously). When you withdraw the part, immediately rinse it in hot running water to get the solution off of it. Use extremely hot water, and the part will dry itself. Let it dry (and get cool enough to touch) on some clean paper towels, spray on some lubricant and viola you are done!
    Rumor control said that if you immersed the freshly rinsed and still hot part in Cosmoline, it would give the sometimes sought after "gray-green" tint to it. I have never tried it. Cosmoline is still available from Brownells if you are adventurous!
    The original formula called for iron filings vice steel wool, but since I didn't have any floating around, and didn't want to file on the cast iron stove, I found that the steel wool worked just fine. What you get is a chemical reaction that causes an iron phosphate to form on the metal (steel phosphate I suppose, using steel wool). I have found that the resultant finish is just as durable as the Arsenal finishes and has exactly the same appearance! an attractive dark gray, almost black. Some say that adding more manganese dioxide causes a darker finish, but I've never tried it, as I was happy with what I got!
    We often used this technique when finishing .45s built on early Essex frames that needed a lot of fitting, thus often requiring the removal of offending metal. I used to checker the front straps (also violating the finish in a rather spectacular fashion) and the resultant finish worked great and showed little or no wear even with extensive use much like the official GI finish. I'm still using a wadcutter gun I performed the magic on back in the 70s and it still looks new.
    A couple of cautions:
    1. Always be careful of any sort of acid, even such an innocuous acid as phosphoric. I certainly would never deliberately inhale the fumes (although there is no great odor to the process that I could tell, but then I smoke cigars). I started doing this back in the early to mid 70s and still have no "twitch" that I can directly attribute to Parkerizing on the kitchen stove. Just use common sense, WEAR GLOVES AND EYE PROTECTION ANYTIME YOU ARE PLAYING AROUND WITH BOILING SOLUTIONS (with or without acids being involved).
    2. Be very careful not to cause any splashes with the boiling solution (of course the same can be said of boiling corn).
    3. Prepare your area and your parts before hand, don't try to do this on the spur of the moment.
    4. Send your wife to see "Gone With the Wind" or "Titanic" or some other movie that whiles away a number of hours. If you ever want to do this again, make sure the kitchen is spiffy when she returns! In Gloria’s case, she would be attaching the parts, but then I'm just lucky in that respect...
    5. Once you have allowed the solution to cool, you are DONE! Re-heating it don't cut it, It simply doesn't work (I've tried it on several occasions). Have everything that you want to Parkerize ready to go when you fire up the solution. You can keep Parkerizing as long as the solution is hot, but allowing it to get cold kills it you've gotta brew up a new solution and start from scratch.
    6. Do not name me in any divorce proceedings!
    Good luck!
    ROC


  5. #15
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Thanks for all the good information. It will be several weeks before I get to the refinishing stage of the fun.

    I found a fellow in Manheim who was a commercial parkerizer for more than twenty years and now works out of his garage. He does not hold an FFL so will do your firearm while you wait. From his e-mail to me, "And I use Allegheny Arsenal park solution which gives a dark gray finish typically. I normally sand blast with 60 grit aluminum oxide media. I can pretty much cook anytime you would want (evening or weekend). Any questions, feel free to ask." His name is Rob (screen name Amish Bob) and he can be reached at rswi65 AT aol DOT com or through the 1919a4 discussion forum for those who might be interested.

  6. #16
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    FWIW , Philadelphia Ordnance in Oreland does (did) excellent mil-spec parkerizing.
    I don't speak English , I talk American!

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Quote Originally Posted by Delkal View Post
    You really should post some pics before you refinish it.
    As requested, here are a few pics.

    First up is the fully depressed grip safety, Note the generally poor fit and the rust pitting. Despite its appearance it did correctly block the trigger from moving enough to touch the disconnector. The machining of this pistol shows the urgency of mass producing lots of .45s to fight WWII. Their objective was clearly to make functional pistols not safe queens.




    Here's a pic showing that the grip bushings were heavily staked. What you can't see is that all the bushings looked like someone used the biggest screwdriver they could find to put them into the frame and then cranked vise grips or pliars onto the studs in an attempt to really torque them down. The screwdriver slots were badly deformed and the teeth marks from the pliars were so pronounced that they prevented the grips from seating. Did I mention the pitting?




    Here's a pic showing the best side of the barrel. It was even worse inside the barrel. During my efforts to clean the bore patches would catch and hang up as I pushed them through. With the help of my Opti-visor and a good flashlight I could clearly see the rust and pitting. I would not put a live round down this tube.




    Finally, here's the glamour shot. Looks pretty good, right? Look closer. I dropped a pair of old Pachmayr grips on it, put in a new slide stop, a new mainspring housing pin, a new magazine catch, a new trigger, and stuck a new Check-Mate mag in it. The original parts were too far gone.

    The thumb safety would not correctly engage the sear to prevent it from moving. The sear and disconnector were badly worn and out of spec in terms of height. From the damage to the slide it looked like someone used a ball peen hammer to try to insert the slide stop without lining it up to the slide notch. This resulted in a large burr on the slide rail which explains why the slide was so difficult to pull back.




    This pistol was inherited by an old man from his older brother who recently passed away. It has sentimental value to him and he wants to be able to shoot it. Therefore, I've replaced nearly all the internal parts including the barrel just to make sure it's safe to shoot. The sights have been replaced and everything has been fit together correctly. The exterior has been oxide blasted to camouflage the deep, extensive pitting and I used Blue Wonder cold bluing to refinish the exterior. I'll post the "after" pics soon.

    My apologies to the collectors and historians out there.

  8. #18
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    Jul 2013
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    Mohnton, Pennsylvania
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...-prod1106.aspx 8

    This stuff works. Grey color. They sell a predip blackener. If you want black. Use a stainless steel pot and a thermometer. Results are spectacular. Small bottle is out of stock.
    The Gun is the Badge of a Free Man

  9. #19
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    Oct 2012
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Here's an "after" picture taken today. It looks a lot better than it did when I started on it. The pitting is still obvious but there's nothing to be done about that. 90% new internals including a new Kart barrel, new sights, new springs, new firing pin, new sear, new disconnector, new extractor, new ejector, etc, etc. The frame feed ramp was so pitted that I didn't think it would feed hardball. Luckily, it had been manufactured with the correct 31.5° angle. I smoothed and polished it as much as possible without compromising the angle but couldn't eliminate the pitting.

    I had to tweak the tang on the grip safety because it was tearing up the web of my hand. Much more pleasant to shoot without having to donate blood. The Blue Wonder bluing did a pretty good job at a bargain price. I would rather have parked it but the cost was prohibitive.

    This pistol is a feeding machine. It handles ball ammo as well as 200gr HG68 style SWC easily. No hint of feeding hesitation. The only fly in the ointment is ejection. The brass is kicked out of the ejection port with authority but it's making contact on the lower edge of the ejection port resulting in a ding near the case mouth. Not the end of the world and I'm nervous about tweaking the extractor and ejector any more for fear of compromising functioning so I'm calling it good enough.

    New grips to replace the original ones which themselves were not original GI.


  10. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
    (Lehigh County)
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    Default Re: Looking for a hobbyist in the Lehigh Valley region to do a parkerizing job

    Glad to see your resurrection of the old girl worked! Nice to have a shooter after all that effort...
    Illegitimus non carborundum est

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