Yet another parking question

[Zamble]

So I decided to use the last of my solution to try to park my mags. I had just enough for one gallon.

I bead blasted all the mags and associated parts. I the put them in hot water with a heavy degreaser that came with the park kit I bought. I let them soak for a few minutes in very hot water per the directions. I then submerged them in the park solution at a constant 195 degrees. They appeared to be doing well. But for some reason, they did not turn black as I was expecting. I let them stay In the pot for a while. The bubbling stopped and I took the parts out. They were a kind of a dark gun metal grey. So I rinsed them off one at a time in hot water. I used my compressor and completely dried them off. When they were dried, I sprayed them with WD-40. I let them sit and continued with the rest of the mags and a couple of rifle parts. I figured if they all turned out this color, I could probably live with it.

When I finished with all the parts and spraying them with WD-40, I went back to the first parts that I had done. I went to wipe oil on them and the finish came off a bit. I tried a second part and the same.

What's up? I degreased both pots. And I used tap water. Could that be the problem? Even though on my second batch, I had one part turn out perfect, though, and I used tap water on that batch as well. I only real difference, is there is not rust this time.

[Alex$]

Can you post some pictures of your results? What you are describing now sounds like what you should expect.

You described it as dark gun metal grey, sounds a lot like a mangenese phosphate coating.

Only two things would i change from your listed steps: after rinsing in hot water, no need to blow dry them, just use WD40 because that is what it was designed for. Don't use tap water since you will get different results depending on what solids are in your water source. Use distilled water, it has no solids to worry about.

After acid bath, soak parts in oil. Don't just wipe some on, saturate them and let them sit. I bag them in plastic bags and add oil.

[ott1]

Ideally one should use distilled water as tap water may contain too much minerals/chemicals (such as fluoride and others).

[Roccobro]

Color is dictated by many things. Metallurgy of parts is one. Turn your temp down to 170-180. 195 is above max temp (by a measly 5deg) but can be some of your problem.

(IMO) Skip the soaking in soap before solution step. If you want to degrease, do it BEFORE the blasting step. In my limited experience (lol) ANYTHING done between the blasting and park dip cause the most grief to the quality of the finish. Phosphatizing is NOT rust. If your putting bare metal in water, you get rust. Phosphate only reacts with bare metal- not rust.

Like Alex says, let it sit for a few days saturated in oil afterwards. I've seen park color darken over 48-36 hours in same builds.

Like Ott1 said, the park solution should be mixed with distilled water. The rinse after park can be made with just any old water. Your just neutralizing the acid off the parts in the rinse.

Justin

[Dreaded Claymore]

Ideally one should use distilled water as tap water may contain too much minerals/chemicals (such as fluoride and others).

It's funny how that works...any water you're likely to drink is about 10% non-water. Pure water will taste unfamiliar and strange, and lack minerals that you need. The world is weird and wonderful.

[Gunsmith Dan]

Well don't have the time to list everything that is needed to be done, some of the things you could be doing wrong and some of the suggestions that are wrong (wd-40 really??? Firearm water displacing oils costs less than half of WD-40, and is thicker than wd-40.)

Here is a link to a brownells PDF about the entire parkerizing process and troubleshooting. I recommend Brownells stuff because it works everytime like it should as long as you follow the instructions.

Brownells

You will notice water quality in Parkerizing is not a big concern unlike Hot Caustic Bluing (Hot Black Oxide) which is.

[Alex$]

Well don't have the time to list everything that is needed to be done, some of the things you could be doing wrong and some of the suggestions that are wrong (wd-40 really??? Firearm water displacing oils costs less than half of WD-40, and is thicker than wd-40.)

Here is a link to a brownells PDF about the entire parkerizing process and troubleshooting. I recommend Brownells stuff because it works everytime like it should as long as you follow the instructions.

Brownells

You will notice water quality in Parkerizing is not a big concern unlike Hot Caustic Bluing (Hot Black Oxide) which is.

He already owns the WD-40, why not use what he has?

[Gunsmith Dan]

Well geez Alex$

I guess your right why not use whatever you have on hand instead of stuff designed to work specifically for that purpose.

In fact next time you need to add oil to your vehicle just use some 2 stroke oil or better yet some vegtable oil. I am sure they will work just fine, they do have the word "oil" in them so they must all work the same.


For the rest:

(assuming the OP is not in the mountains of Afganistan or the end of the world hasn't past already then of course use whatever you can get your hands on in those cases)

While WD-40 was designed as a water displacing oil for military purposes originally (ICBMs), it is too thin of a viscosity for firearms use ( originally was designed for use on uncoated metal components ). Parkerizing is a surface metal conversion coating, as opposed to plating, so the penetrating and rust "prevention" parts of WD-40 are not good for long term use on Parkerized finishes. In fact the contamination problems you might be having could be related to the WD-40, it hard to clean completely off in some cases as it penetrates extremely well into even the most microscopic pores in metal.

So if you want to listen to Alex$ go ahead ..... or read the Brownells link to the Parkerizing PDF and follow it, I am sure one of them knows what they are talking about.

(while you can use the chemicals you already have while using the Brownells PDF instructions, the water displacing oil designed for firearms use would be recommended)

[valley82]

I am not a park veteran, here is a pic of the AKs from the June 29th AKTEAM build party. We sandblasted, sprayed down with brake cleaner, drop into park tank, flip after 7-8 minutes, 7-8 minutes later pull out of park tank, wipe down with rag, drench with motor oil, after 10 minutes or so wipe down and assemble, I oil every two days for a couple of weeks. These and the guns from the last two build parties all came out the same color, approximately. Hope this helps. Like I said I'm no pro but this routine works well.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=156086&d=1340669860

[Alex$]

Well geez Alex$

I guess your right why not use whatever you have on hand instead of stuff designed to work specifically for that purpose.

In fact next time you need to add oil to your vehicle just use some 2 stroke oil or better yet some vegtable oil. I am sure they will work just fine, they do have the word "oil" in them so they must all work the same.


For the rest:

(assuming the OP is not in the mountains of Afganistan or the end of the world hasn't past already then of course use whatever you can get your hands on in those cases)

While WD-40 was designed as a water displacing oil for military purposes originally (ICBMs), it is too thin of a viscosity for firearms use ( originally was designed for use on uncoated metal components ). Parkerizing is a surface metal conversion coating, as opposed to plating, so the penetrating and rust "prevention" parts of WD-40 are not good for long term use on Parkerized finishes. In fact the contamination problems you might be having could be related to the WD-40, it hard to clean completely off in some cases as it penetrates extremely well into even the most microscopic pores in metal.

So if you want to listen to Alex$ go ahead ..... or read the Brownells link to the Parkerizing PDF and follow it, I am sure one of them knows what they are talking about.

(while you can use the chemicals you already have while using the Brownells PDF instructions, the water displacing oil designed for firearms use would be recommended)

You sir are entitled to your opinion and you have strong feelings on how valid those opinions are. You present yourself as an expert on many subjects and will not sway from other opinions.

I grow tired of your confrontational attitude though. You can have your opinion, lowbrow though it is.

I too am entitled to my own opinion, I think you should perform a sexual act upon yourself, it might improve your pompous, self-rightous attitude. But that is just my own opinion. (it is also my opinion that I have you pegged dead on)

Dan, take a break from the keyboard, you seem to think your view is the only correct one. Any argument you seem to have with me will be more easily seen in the mirror.

Still want get on a soapbox about how wrong I am? Please revisit the most basic gunsmithing skill of proper headspacing.

Put it to rest.

[Zamble]

Thanks for all the advice. I got my new solution today. And I will try tomorrow, again.

[Gunsmith Dan]

Funny ( ) you are the one that makes the numerous condescending remarks and get upset that people respond to you in a harsh tone.

There is many other sections for opinions on this forum, this section is a how do something to firearms. Opinions and theories in the area or repair, service or customization of firearms will lead to people doing dangerous or not recommended actions.

Most people posting for help in the Gunsmithing section are actually wanting help to finish something correctly and safely ... not get theories and opinions of maybe what to do. If I do not "sway" away stating facts compared to a opinion, then I do not appologize if I know that the facts are that 1+1 is not 3 and the world is not flat.

If my "high brow" attitude is to help people be informed of the right, and safe, way of doing things or provide documentation for them to read to get great results, then I guess I am "high brow".

Like I said before you can listen to Alex$ .... or Brownells ( just take a guess who has been in the field of supplying tools, chemicals and technical information for gunsmiths and firearms manufacturers for over 60 years)

In fact there should be a anarchist's section just for your "opinions" since most of your suggestions are better suited for the post apocalypse world, the ones that are not dangerous to the firearm user that is.



Ohh forgot about the Mosin headspace post.....

Well relying on Wikipedia information is next to useless since many pages get changed and updated all the time.

Headspacing is the measurement of the distance between the rear of a fully seated cartridge and the front of the breech/bolt face, the resulting measurement is the headspace.

The Headspace Dimension (the one incorrectly titled in wikipedia) is the distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge (the datum reference) to the face of the bolt.

Want better info goto the SAAMI website.

Zamble

Sorry you had to deal with this on your post if you have any more questions you can use the "high brow" PM to contact me ..... FYI some more pictures would be nice btw.

[Alex$]

Funny ( ) you are the one that makes the numerous condescending remarks and get upset that people respond to you in a harsh tone.

There is many other sections for opinions on this forum, this section is a how do something to firearms. Opinions and theories in the area or repair, service or customization of firearms will lead to people doing dangerous or not recommended actions.

Most people posting for help in the Gunsmithing section are actually wanting help to finish something correctly and safely ... not get theories and opinions of maybe what to do. If I do not "sway" away stating facts compared to a opinion, then I do not appologize if I know that the facts are that 1+1 is not 3 and the world is not flat.

If my "high brow" attitude is to help people be informed of the right, and safe, way of doing things or provide documentation for them to read to get great results, then I guess I am "high brow".

Like I said before you can listen to Alex$ .... or Brownells ( just take a guess who has been in the field of supplying tools, chemicals and technical information for gunsmiths and firearms manufacturers for over 60 years)

In fact there should be a anarchist's section just for your "opinions" since most of your suggestions are better suited for the post apocalypse world, the ones that are not dangerous to the firearm user that is.



Ohh forgot about the Mosin headspace post.....

Well relying on Wikipedia information is next to useless since many pages get changed and updated all the time.

Headspacing is the measurement of the distance between the rear of a fully seated cartridge and the front of the breech/bolt face, the resulting measurement is the headspace.

The Headspace Dimension (the one incorrectly titled in wikipedia) is the distance measured from the part of the chamber that stops forward motion of the cartridge (the datum reference) to the face of the bolt.

Want better info goto the SAAMI website.

Zamble

Sorry you had to deal with this on your post if you have any more questions you can use the "high brow" PM to contact me ..... FYI some more pictures would be nice btw.

I have yet to be condescending on purpose. Your interpretation of other people's post is getting in the way here.

You have taken offense to some of my responses previously, I wished you luck and ignored you, you won't let it go though.

[Zamble]

Well, I had planned on parking today. But my father in law hijacked my project. He wanted to install the 4500 watt element to the park tank and wire it up to our 240 volt outlet. We needed to make a run to OSH to get one more part, but he tired out (he's 87). So now I will finish tomorrow. Hopefully.

[Plisk]

For the parking I've done, after my parts came out of the overflowing water tank they got wiped down and hosed with WD-40 to aid in water displacement. Before final reassembly, I did use a different lubricant/oil. I did go it solo with WD40 a few times when supplies dwindled, and it functioned fine for a short time until I got resupplied.