Parkerizing questions

[DJBSR]

I have a muzzle loader barrel that is fairly polished with crocus cloth I am planning on Parkerizing it. Will it come out somewhat gloss black or will it Park at all. And which solution should I use zinc phosphate or manganese phosphate?

[Josh]

it will parkerize but it will not come out gloss. It will have the standard dull park finish. Manganese will have a darker finish.

[DJBSR]

Thanks for the info

[jacques]

It is better to bead blast it down to bare metal first. Then park. I have read elsewhere that a mag park is if you are going to paint it afterwards, so zinc may be the way to go. It will have a dull finish.

[DJBSR]

It's definitely bare metal it's just not glass beaded, however according to Lauer Custom Weaponry their zinc phosphate is better suited as an undercoat for spray on finish please correct me if I'm wrong. I just want a really black finish.

[Josh]

manganese will give you the darker finish.

the reason people recommend manganese park is due to its larger crystalline structure.

the zinc park has a smaller grain structure and will give finer finish but will be a gray color.

[jacques]

It's definitely bare metal it's just not glass beaded, however according to Lauer Custom Weaponry their zinc phosphate is better suited as an undercoat for spray on finish please correct me if I'm wrong. I just want a really black finish.

Oh, maybe I had that backwards. I used mag on my VZ58's and Durabaked them. The Mag is a very crystally finish. Dark also.

[drawn]

We do a Black, Black, Black Parkerizing. Email if your interested.

[bigbob76]

Parking

Here's an idea if you have something you want to last just a few days short of forever. Have Drawn blast it, Parkerize it dark black, then ask him to Duracoat it as close to the same shade of black as possible. If you should ever ding it really hard and the Duracoat chips it will still not only be protected but will be the same color underneath.

[drawn]

I've only parked after blasting...
Parkerizing on a polished surface may have scratch resistance issues itself. I'll try and find a steel specimen, polish it, Park it, Photo it and bump it into a few trees at the shop. It seems DJBSR is wondering if because the surface is polished, will the Parkerizing come out somewhat glossy? Or at least more so than after blasting. As long as all the contaminants are stripped from the steel we know it will Parkerize but what will the sheen and scratch resistance be? I'll squeeze this test in tentatively before the end of the month and post back here.

[kingjoey]

Parkerizing on a smooth surface wipes right off. When we park a barrel we don't even bother plugging it, the inside of the barrel won't park. You really need to sandblast the surface to get good parkerizing, glass beaded surfaces don't park well. We had a whole batch of parts have to go back to be refinished because they beadblasted the metal before parking and the finish pretty much wiped off. The harder the alloy is, the coarser the grit you need to use.

[StukaJr]

I've experimented with rough grit sandpaper and lotsa elbow grease going in circular motion on junk parts - works okay, but not so well in parts where it can't reach. Parkerizing was uneven and scratched off in some places - worked somewhat for undercoat for Brownell's Alymahyde II but I talked myself into buying sandblasting rig afterward.

There is post-park dip that makes the Zinc Phosphate park black, dipping parked parts into fresh motor oil for 5-10 mins will color it darker shades of green as well - different weigh, different color. Someone used Muriatic (sp?) Acid to strip rust and bluing before parking - they claim that made park job darker (no first hand experience).

[kingjoey]

Did you degrease the part before parkerizing?

[StukaJr]

Yes. The uneven layer was caused by uneven amount of sanding, plus any crevices where sandpaper couldn't get to as well remained with very thin coat of park.

The parts have been since re-done right.

[drawn]

Parkerizing on a smooth surface wipes right off. When we park a barrel we don't even bother plugging it, the inside of the barrel won't park. You really need to sandblast the surface to get good parkerizing, glass beaded surfaces don't park well. We had a whole batch of parts have to go back to be refinished because they beadblasted the metal before parking and the finish pretty much wiped off. The harder the alloy is, the coarser the grit you need to use.

There you go, I didn't think about the fact Parkerizing comes right off the inside of the (smooth) barrel.