Parkerization 101: Basic Parkerization Technique

[Miso Beno]

Warning, and general safety tips:
Always perform this and all other processes involving caustic chemicals in a well ventilated area using the appropriate safety clothing and eye protection. Great care must be used when using flammable materials around fire to prevent injury or death. The writer and 230Grain hold no responsibility for any injury or damage that may result from this tutorial. I have made every attempt to insure the factuality of this article but still suggest that the end user try it on a something cheap and easy to replace before trying it out on that family heirloom.

If you kill yourself or ruin your gun it is not our fault.

SUPPLIES

Air Compressor
Bead Blaster
Clean Rags
Carburetor Cleaner
Distilled Water
Plastic 5 Gallon Bucket Full of Fresh Water
Empty Plastic 5 Gallon Bucket
Magnesium or Zinc Phosphate Solution
Non-Aromatic Petroleum Based Oil
Outdoor Stove
Rubber Gloves
Latex/Nitrol Gloves
Stainless Steel Tank and lid
Stainless Steel Thermometer
Stainless Steel Wire or Nylon Cord


Introduction

Parkerization or “Phosphating” is a chemical process that uses a manganese or zinc phosphate based solution to darken steel with a matte grey finish and to make steel more corrosion resistant. The chemicals used in parkerization are less caustic and safer to contain that those used in the bluing process. While this tutorial uses zinc phosphate and an AK-47 magazine to demonstrate parkerization the principles illustrated also apply to manganese phosphate and most forms of non-stainless steels.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2001.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2001.jpg)

Preparation of The Phosphate Solution

Before anything can be phosphated the solution must be mixed from the concentrate. Every manufacturer concentrates their phosphoric acid to a different strengths and the end user will have to refer to their manual determine the appropriate water:concentrate ratio before proceeding. Place the stainless steel tank on the stove and set your stove up according to its instructions. Mix your phosphate solution in the empty plastic 5 gallon bucket to the appropriate strength then add it to your stainless steel tank leaving several inches from the top to allow for splashing and the addition of the parts to be phosphated. Before proceeding to preparing the magazine it is suggested that the tank is covered to prevent spilling and contamination.

An Important Note About Barrels
If a barrel is being parkerized it is important to protect the muzzle, bore, and chamber from both the bead blasting and parkerization solution. Allowing blast media, or parkerization solution to come in contact with the crown, chamber, or bore could result in a loss of major loss of accuracy or a permanently fouled chamber. The best way to ensure that the barrel is protected is to use a tight fitting rubber plug and/sealer on all of the barrel openings including any gas ports, the chamber, and bore. It is also recommended that the chamber and crown area of the barrel be avoided while bead blasting to prevent knocking the plugs lose or damaging any uncovered surface. If proper care is taken the firearm will retain its accuracy and functionality while looking like it had come straight from the factory.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2002.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2002.jpg)

Preparing The Metal Surface
Once the phosphate solution is ready it is time to prepare the surface for treatment. The first and most important step is to remove all oils from the exposed metal surfaces. Failure to properly remove surface grease and oil can lead to a mottled and less corrosion resistant finish. Carburetor cleaner is a popular degreasing agent because of its degreasing strength and widespread availability. In a well-ventilated area or outdoors, simply spray a liberal amount of carburetor cleaner onto the magazine and allow it to rinse the oil and grease off of the metal. Then with a pair of gloves and a clean rag wipe the surface off and look for any residual grease and oil on the metal. Once the metal has been completely degreased it should only be handled with clean and dry gloves to prevent reintroduction of oils to the metal surface.

Just before bead blasting would be the perfect time to start preheating the solution. Set the burners to medium heat to start bringing the solution to operating temperature (180-200/82.2C-93.3C). While the preheating is taking place be sure to cover the solution and check it periodically to prevent the solution from coming to a boil. Once preheating has started all that’s left to do is to remove the original finish and any rust on the magazine. Take the magazine put it in the blast cabinet, and blast all of the original finish off until all that remains is bare metal.

http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%203.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2003.jpg)
I do apologize for the low quality of this photograph but trying to get light to pass through Plexiglas and dust is pretty damned hard.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2004.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2004.jpg)
Notice the discoloration on the steel that is due to the angle that the bead blaster was being operated at reflecting light differently than the surrounding surface. This should not affect the finish of the final product.

Parkerize!
It is necessary to suspend the magazine from the bottom of the tank to prevent any sludge build up from affecting the final finish of the magazine. This demonstration uses stainless steel bailing wire because will not react with the parkerization solution unlike galvanized steel or copper. Simply cut off several lengths of wire and either pass them through the magazine or build a cradle to suspend it.

http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2006.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2006.jpg)
The stainless steel wire cradle without the magazine.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2005.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2005.jpg)
190F is a nice safe operating temperature.

Now that all of the is hard work taken care of and our parkerization solution is at temperature the magazine is ready to be immersed. Simply rest it on its cradle and agitate the parkerization solution every 30 seconds. When the bubbling starts to slow down flip the magazine over and continue to gently agitate until the bubbling has finished. White sediments may start depositing on the surface of the magazine once the parkerization but is no cause for concern.

http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2007.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2007.jpg)
Buuuubles! :neckbeard:
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2008.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2008.jpg)
Time to flip the magazine.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2009.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2009.jpg)
Time to move onto the next step.

Post Treatment

Take the blackened magazine and throw it in the fresh water bucket and allow any sediment to rinse off while the magazine cools. Then take it out and immediately dry it off using compressed air or a dry towel. Even though the magazine has its phosphate finish it lacks the oil it needs to protect it from rusting and it will begin to stain in as little as ten minutes if it is not dried and oiled immediately. To oil the magazine any petroleum oil will do, but it is strongly suggested that oils that have a strong odor should be avoided, as the magazine will smell like whatever oil is used for several weeks even if it has been dried. Oiling can be done in one of two ways, the preferred method is to allow the magazine to set in oil for several hours after its dry to give the oil time really soak into the parkerization and give a nice dark finish before wiping the magazine down. The alternate method is to wipe the magazine down with a heavy coating of oil and to let it set in a plastic bag for several hours then to wipe it dry. Both methods work well and will leave a nice parkerized product.

http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2010.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2010.jpg)
Oh God this is why I said wear gloves!
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2011.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2010.jpg)
Not pictured: me cooling my hand in the water for five minutes.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2012.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2012.jpg)
It looks finished, doesn’t it? Well its not. Time to air dry it before it stains.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2013.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2013.jpg)
Not so pretty anymore. Lets get it oiled.
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2014.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2014.jpg)
Immersing the magazine in oil is an effective method to make your hands slick as hell. :fap:
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2015.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2015.jpg)
http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/Parkerization%2016.jpg (http://misostudios.com/parkerization/albums/BG/Parkerization%2016.jpg)
Done. Notice the darker circles on the feed lips of the magazine. That’s where the Reds spot-welded the magazine feed lips to the magazine body.

Discoloration
Poor metallurgical qualities, heat-treatment, rust and poor handling of the metal before parkerizing are all common source of metal discoloration. While the metallurgical properties and heat treat are beyond the end user’s control rust and handling are both correctable. Should the magazine end up with a large rust stain or fingerprints, simply start the parkerization process over from scratch. If only one area is blasted while the rest of the old finish is left on the magazine there is a strong possibility that the two sections will have very different tone and a distinct perimeter where the two sections meet.

Parkerization kicks ass and if you have the time, space, and money to do it. You should. If you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer them.


Useful Links:
Lauer Zinc Phosphate Solution (http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=122455&t=110f82005)
Lauer Manganese Phosphate Solution (http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=245936&t=11082005)
Brownells Benchtop Parkerization Kit (http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=22737&title=BENCHTOP%20PARKERIZING%20KIT)
Brownells Shop Sized Phosphating Kit. (Also includes components for bluing) (http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=1110&title=GAS%20MANGANESE%20PARKERIZING%20KIT)

[Fang]

That is so freaking cool. I see what you mean now about heated areas showing up after parkerizing. Might have to reconsider my decision not to get into doing this myself.

How do you like that air compressor? How much of a job does its capacity let you handle?

[Miso Beno]

That is so freaking cool. I see what you mean now about heated areas showing up after parkerizing. Might have to reconsider my decision not to get into doing this myself.

How do you like that air compressor? How much of a job does its capacity let you handle?

When I use the Craftsman 33 Gallon 1.6HP Compressor things move pretty slow because of the low CFM and I have a hard time bead blasting larger objects like FAL barrels.

[Wonder Bread]

Aside from the bead blasting, this looks fairly simple and easy to do.

If only I had beadblasting equipment and the ability to justify parkerizing random pieces of metal.

[Miso Beno]

Aside from the bead blasting, this looks fairly simple and easy to do.

If only I had beadblasting equipment and the ability to justify parkerizing random pieces of metal.

Unlike bluing, parkerization is a very simple process with no magic salts and neutralizers or PH levels to watch for. Just temperature, salinity and the quality of the end product. Turn out a bad sample piece? Time for new parkerization solution!

[terraformer]

So it looks like parkerizing is sensitive to the underlying metal wrt how the finished product looks. Is blueing sensitive to this as well?

[Fang]

So it looks like parkerizing is sensitive to the underlying metal wrt how the finished product looks. Is blueing sensitive to this as well?

From what I hear, yes. Different steels or heat-treating can produce different tints in the bluing.

[Danube]

From what I hear, yes. Different steels or heat-treating can produce different tints in the bluing.

This explains some horrible self done pieces I have seen.

[mbquimby]

Does the tank you use to parkerize have to be stainless steel? I know using a galvinized steel tank would cause the tank it self to parkerize but would that harm the piece that you are trying to parkerize? Also, when parkerizing a slide from a pistol, do you have to completely disassemble the enire slide (firing pin, ect) or can it be parkerized as is? Thanks for the help!

[Fang]

I don't know the answer to your first question, but I do know that anything being parkerized should be completely disassembled into its constituent components.

[mbquimby]

oops, double posted.

[mbquimby]

I was afraid that would be the case. I want to parkerize the slide on my Ruger LCP .380 but I can find no direction on how to remove the ejector, firing pin, springs, ect... It doesn't just come apart like some slides on larger guns and I don't want to guess my way through it, lol. I guess I will just duracoat the slide.

[Miso Beno]

I was afraid that would be the case. I want to parkerize the slide on my Ruger LCP .380 but I can find no direction on how to remove the ejector, firing pin, springs, ect... It doesn't just come apart like some slides on larger guns and I don't want to guess my way through it, lol. I guess I will just duracoat the slide and parkerize the frame.

Gunkote is a bit stronger and more durable than Durakote; the only difference is you have to bake it but most of us have ovens, right?

[mbquimby]

I looked into the gunkote route but decided for my application that duracoat would be fine. I also didn't want my pizzas to smell like paint, lol.

[Miso Beno]

Does the tank you use to parkerize have to be stainless steel? I know using a galvinized steel tank would cause the tank it self to parkerize but would that harm the piece that you are trying to parkerize? Also, when parkerizing a slide from a pistol, do you have to completely disassemble the enire slide (firing pin, ect) or can it be parkerized as is? Thanks for the help!

Question 1:
The zinc oxide on the interior of the tank will change the chemistry of your bath and could give you some less than desirable results. Just use a stainless steel stock pot. That's what we use for small jobs.


Question 2:
Do not parkerize it as is unless you like frozen springs and pins.

Gunkote comment: You can pick up a small oven for pretty cheap on craigslist. Just grab an IR thermometer (http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh8/R-100674438/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) or oven thermometer (http://www.amazon.com/MIU-90069-Commercial-Oven-Thermometer/dp/B000JO0AHU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1262289383&sr=8-2) while your at it to make sure its running at the correct temperature. I've handled guns that were finished with Duracoat and it feels like butts.

[mbquimby]

uno mas question....will parkerization change the tollerances of pin holes? If so, how should I avoid that?

[Miso Beno]

uno mas question....will parkerization change the tollerances of pin holes? If so, how should I avoid that?

Yes parkerization will generally decrease the size of a pin hole making it hard to reinsert pins. Scrubbing the holes out and using lubricant will help you reinsert pins but if you're really concerned about tolerances you could fill the holes with a plastic plug.

[mbquimby]

where would one find such plugs? Everyone tells me to use rubber plugs for barrels also but i'm not sure if that is something I can find made for this purpose or do I need to make something? Thanks for all your help, by the way.

[Clinotus]

Dang it, I missed a clear opportunity between your posts to drop some kind of overly enthusiastic 'I'd plug it' joke. :sad:

[mbquimby]

insert courtesy laugh even though the joke was late

[Miso Beno]

insert courtesy laugh even though the joke was late

I have a small pile of stoppers that I use for barrels and I usually end up fabricating something for gas ports on non-chrome lined barrels.

[mbquimby]

I have a small pile of stoppers that I use for barrels and I usually end up fabricating something for gas ports on non-chrome lined barrels.

do you put any liquid in the barrel when you parkerize or leave it hollow between the stoppers?

[Miso Beno]

do you put any liquid in the barrel when you parkerize or leave it hollow between the stoppers?

Hollow.

[mbquimby]

Well, I tried to parkerize some stuff this weekend and it didn't come out very well at all. I ran into some road blocks that I didn't anticipate which had me scrambling to keep up with temp, time, and such. First, I found that my two burner hot plate didn't seem to have enough power to heat my park solution to the called for 190 degrees. (This surprised me.) So I had to relocate to the stove (with an open door to let the fumes out.) My thermometer didn't seem to be consistently giving an accurate reading. The solution almost came to a boil and it was still reading 170 degrees. I moved it around and all of a sudden it went right past 200. I think I finally got a consistent 190 by having the stainless tray sit on two burners (which eventually burned rings into the tray, which could have ruined it for all I know.) I did the slide and frame to a .380 and the upper from a tech-9 as practice pieces. They were both stripped to a bare metal finish and thoroughly degreased. The .380 seemed to be made from very cheap metal (it was a bryco/jennings piece of crap) and the park job came out horrible. The tech-9, on the other hand, came out looking very good. I used a zinc based solution and it gave the tech-9 a very pretty and even gray color. I was pleased with it until I took it out and the park seemed to rub right off of it in a few places. I had mixed everything as prescribed and handled it according to instructions. I'm confused as to what messed it up. To be honest, I'm actually pretty bummed about it because I have invested a lot of time and money in building all the equipment needed to do this on a consistent basis. Have you ever had a park job rub off of the metal? If so, may I ask what was the issue/how did you mitigate it? Thanks.

[Steve Balmer]

I have never heard of parkerizing rubbing off before. You should take some photographs so we can all see. Have you tried anything else besides your guns? I believe Miso used a bunch of tools as test pieces before committing any guns to the bath.

[Miso Beno]

I have never heard of parkerizing rubbing off before. You should take some photographs so we can all see. Have you tried anything else besides your guns? I believe Miso used a bunch of tools as test pieces before committing any guns to the bath.

I did try out parkerizing on a bunch of different tools before doing guns.

mbquimby: After talking with Dave from South Ridge Arms; it sounds like the bath was too hot/unevenly hot and only a thin layer of parkerizing was able to set in instead of etching deeper into the surface of the steel. I suggest redoing the Tec-9 but first do some sample items like the aforementioned tools. I suspect you'll get better results with the Bryco as well but like I said before poor metallurgy yields a poor finish. I really hope this comes together for you and you end up having a load of fun doing other stuff.

Next time you do it, slowly bring your bath up to temperature and try running your parts around 170 to 180 degrees on your thermometer.

Edit: A genteman from another forum asked if you were suspending the items in question or allowing to rest against the bottom of the tank.

[Danube]

I have never heard of parkerizing rubbing off before. You should take some photographs so we can all see. Have you tried anything else besides your guns? I believe Miso used a bunch of tools as test pieces before committing any guns to the bath.

Same here, I'd like to see the photos as well. I dont have any to parkerize at the moment but I've been following this thread with a lot of interest in case I get something or buy something that needs to be refinished.

Looks like a lot of trail and error to get it right.

[Fang]

Are you sure the Bryco/Jennings slide wasn't made of some zinc alloy? That might be why it wouldn't take parkerizing well.

[mbquimby]

The park only rubbed off in one small place and the owner went ahead and had the duracoat it as it was. The finished product looks great. I wish I had taken pics first so you could see what I was talking about. As far as the bryco being a zinc alloy, that I am not sure of. The high heat explination sounds accurate as I am pretty sure that my solution was over heated for much of the process. I may need to obtain a better thermometer and test some tools next as advised. I am suspending the parts as well, which I believe was asked above. Do any of you know if my burnt stainless steel pan will still work or have a altered its make up too much by burning circles into it? I'll post again after my next attempt and see if I have any different results.

I also wanted to ask if it seemed strange to any of you that a nice, brand new double burner hotplate was unable to get my solution up to temp? I assumed that it would.

[Miso Beno]

The park only rubbed off in one small place and the owner went ahead and had the duracoat it as it was. The finished product looks great. I wish I had taken pics first so you could see what I was talking about. As far as the bryco being a zinc alloy, that I am not sure of. The high heat explination sounds accurate as I am pretty sure that my solution was over heated for much of the process. I may need to obtain a better thermometer and test some tools next as advised. I am suspending the parts as well, which I believe was asked above. Do any of you know if my burnt stainless steel pan will still work or have a altered its make up too much by burning circles into it? I'll post again after my next attempt and see if I have any different results.

I also wanted to ask if it seemed strange to any of you that a nice, brand new double burner hotplate was unable to get my solution up to temp? I assumed that it would.

I bet your stainless pan will be fine. Just don't prepare food in it. (The worst case is you'll just end up rotting a hole through your pan and have to buy another. Oh noes.) :tongue:

[mbquimby]

I bet your stainless pan will be fine. Just don't prepare food in it. (The worst case is you'll just end up rotting a hole through your pan and have to buy another. Oh noes.) :tongue:
I found a restaurant supply store a few block from my work that sells them for 14 dollars. (large enough for a couple of pistols.) You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them what they were for. They looked at me like I was part of some kind of terrorist cell or something. Any feedback on the hotplate issue?

[terraformer]

I found a restaurant supply store a few block from my work that sells them for 14 dollars. (large enough for a couple of pistols.) You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them what they were for. They looked at me like I was part of some kind of terrorist cell or something. Any feedback on the hotplate issue?

Keep in mind that the heavier the steel, the harder it is to heat up. That is a good thing. The more heat it takes to heat it up, the harder it is to cool off. It will hep you regulate the temp better. Given those are 14 dollar pans, I am betting they are not heavy steel. Buy heavier gauge pans or put a thick piece of steel under the pan and transfer the heat from the burner through that. Though a hot plate wont transfer heat as well as open flame.

[Miso Beno]

Keep in mind that the heavier the steel, the harder it is to heat up. That is a good thing. The more heat it takes to heat it up, the harder it is to cool off. It will hep you regulate the temp better. Given those are 14 dollar pans, I am betting they are not heavy steel. Buy heavier gauge pans or put a thick piece of steel under the pan and transfer the heat from the burner through that. Though a hot plate wont transfer heat as well as open flame.

A reasonably easy way to find that out would be to build a double boiler setup using pans that fit inside of each other. I've never used a hot plate so I can't speak to the uneven heating (Propane burners are cheap and so is propane) but then again; good bath agitation should prevent that from becoming a major factor.

There may have been other factors as well, such as residues left over from handling.

[mbquimby]

I've tried to find out if the boiling point for parkierizing solution is higher than water but to no avail. I would assume that if it is different than plain h2o, it probably isn't much considering the percentage of water it contains. I know the hot plate is powerfull enough to boil water (212 degrees F) so I can't figure out why it wouldn't get my solution to 190. I'm thinking it did, but my thermometer wasn't conveying the message. I'm going to try and find a flat cast iron sheet to put under my stainless trays to help even the heat. As soon as I'm done building this sandblasting cabinet, I'll give it another whirl and let yall know how it goes.

[terraformer]

I've tried to find out if the boiling point for parkierizing solution is higher than water but to no avail. I would assume that if it is different than plain h2o, it probably isn't much considering the percentage of water it contains. I know the hot plate is powerfull enough to boil water (212 degrees F) so I can't figure out why it wouldn't get my solution to 190. I'm thinking it did, but my thermometer wasn't conveying the message. I'm going to try and find a flat cast iron sheet to put under my stainless trays to help even the heat. As soon as I'm done building this sandblasting cabinet, I'll give it another whirl and let yall know how it goes.

I like Beno's idea of steel pans inside iron or heavier steel pans. That will help keep heat in the sides. Ideally you would want a heavy gauge steel pan by itself but as you get more into this, that can be a future purchase.

[mbquimby]

Well, after a long hiatus from the board I have taken all the advise I got here (and other places) and my system is running great! I have my blasting cabinet fully built (3'x2'x2.5') and it is running off a 20 lb pressure pot that is fed from my 6.5 hp 30 gal compressor. The only gun I have found that will connect to a pressure pot is a dead man's valve and to be honest, I hate it. I wish someone made one that is set up like a syphon feen gun because it would be way more ergonomic and not tire my hand so badly. I bought a quality two burner camp stove from Academy Sports and had a stainless steel tank (3'x6"x6") fabricated for doing barrels, receivers, ect... and I still use the restaurant supply pan for small parts. I "borrowed" a stainless pot from my wife for pistols. Currently I am running Lauer Custom Weaponry chemicals which are doing much better than the ebay stuff I had originally used. It turns out that the ebay stuff wasn't a true phosphate and more like a dye that reacted to the heat (and rubbed off like the garbage it was). I also have my duracoating system all set up and together they have helped me produce some really nice stuff. So far I have completely stripped and parkerized (manganese phosphate) bryco/jennings model 58 .380, a LLama 1911, a J.C. Higgens 1945 Bolt Action 12 GA, a Remington 870 Express 20 GA, a Walther P99, and a Ruger LCP .380. I Duracoated the 1911 LCW Gold and the rest I soaked in LCW parkerizing/water displacing oil and then a rem oil bath. I am amazed how nice everything has come out, even with such a steap learning curve. I am bad about seeing something that I think would be productive/fun and jumping into it without any prior knowledge or experience. Normally I find that the task isn't as easy as it looks (probably because professionals are doing it, lol) and that I am in over my head. This, on the other hand, started a little bumpy but once I had the proper equipment has worked famously. I have already made some decent money. Who knows, one day I might break even!!! :clap: Thanks for all the pointers!

[mbquimby]

I have never heard of parkerizing rubbing off before. You should take some photographs so we can all see. Have you tried anything else besides your guns? I believe Miso used a bunch of tools as test pieces before committing any guns to the bath.

It turns out that the "parkerizing" chemicals I were using weren't true phosphates and more like a heat reactive dye. Note to self, don't use ebay for chemicals, lol.

[terraformer]

Great news

[Fang]

Well, after a long hiatus from the board I have taken all the advise I got here (and other places) and my system is running great! I have my blasting cabinet fully built (3'x2'x2.5') and it is running off a 20 lb pressure pot that is fed from my 6.5 hp 30 gal compressor. The only gun I have found that will connect to a pressure pot is a dead man's valve and to be honest, I hate it. I wish someone made one that is set up like a syphon feen gun because it would be way more ergonomic and not tire my hand so badly. I bought a quality two burner camp stove from Academy Sports and had a stainless steel tank (3'x6"x6") fabricated for doing barrels, receivers, ect... and I still use the restaurant supply pan for small parts. I "borrowed" a stainless pot from my wife for pistols. Currently I am running Lauer Custom Weaponry chemicals which are doing much better than the ebay stuff I had originally used. It turns out that the ebay stuff wasn't a true phosphate and more like a dye that reacted to the heat (and rubbed off like the garbage it was). I also have my duracoating system all set up and together they have helped me produce some really nice stuff. So far I have completely stripped and parkerized (manganese phosphate) bryco/jennings model 58 .380, a LLama 1911, a J.C. Higgens 1945 Bolt Action 12 GA, a Remington 870 Express 20 GA, a Walther P99, and a Ruger LCP .380. I Duracoated the 1911 LCW Gold and the rest I soaked in LCW parkerizing/water displacing oil and then a rem oil bath. I am amazed how nice everything has come out, even with such a steap learning curve. I am bad about seeing something that I think would be productive/fun and jumping into it without any prior knowledge or experience. Normally I find that the task isn't as easy as it looks (probably because professionals are doing it, lol) and that I am in over my head. This, on the other hand, started a little bumpy but once I had the proper equipment has worked famously. I have already made some decent money. Who knows, one day I might break even!!! :clap: Thanks for all the pointers!

Can you give us more information on your blasting cabinet and fabricated stainless steel tank; i.e. how you made them or had them made and what the parts cost, etc. I've been looking at making my own blasting cabinet, but have a hard time coming up with a solution that beats the Harbor Freight el cheapo model even before factoring in the labor to put it together. Also, Brownells' stainless park tank is expensive even before shipping, so I'm considering paying a local welder to put one together for me.

[mbquimby]

Sure thing:

Blasting Cabinet

My blasting cabinet is made from 3/4 inch thick hard wood ply board. I cut it to be 3 feet wide, two feet deep from front to back, and the front is 1.5 feet tall with the back being 2 feet tall. The "roof" of the box extends 6 inches (I think) from the back wall and then the door hinges there and angles down towards the front face. I put two regular bar latches on each corner of the door and the connecting slots are drilled into the top of the front face. The arm holes are 4.5 inch pvc pipe connectors that are 5 inches in outer diameter on one side and 6 inches on the other. I used a large hole saw to drill the circles for them to fit through and inserted the smaller end through the box from the inside so that it stuck out the front and then used a hose clamp to secure sand blasting gloves to the rim (bought them at harbor freight). On the right side of the box (as you are looking at it) I drilled two 1 inch holes that used to serve as openings for the air line and sand lines but I have since switched to a pressure pot system that only has one 2 inch line that air and sand both feed through. I drilled a larger hole for that line and left the two small holes there so that the box wouldn't be air tight. The reason for this is I also drilled a large enough hole in the top right corner of the right wall of the box that I could connect my shop vac hose to it to suck out the dust so that I can see in the plexiglass window I have in the door. I bought a few 12"x10" thin sheets of plexiglass at Lowes and they are held on by small pieces of wood that can rotate on each corner and then four that are stationary on each side of the plexiglass. Inside the box is a 20 inch long florescent light that I bought at Lowes. I drilled a hole in the back to feed the power cord through. After the box was built I used 2"x4"s to build legs that held it at the proper height for my forearms to be level going into the gloves. I then used caulk and foam sealant to seal up the light's power cord hole and all the seams of the box so that it didn't leak sand everywhere. I also installed pieces of 2"x4"s along the inside of the box around the door and used rubber car window stripping to provide a better seal when the door closes on it. I spray painted the inside and outside black (for looks) but most of the floor of the box has been blasted back to wood. In the floor of the cabinet I drilled a 2 inch hole that holds a 1.5 inside diameter pvc coupling tightly. I bought a couple of feet of vaccum cleaner hose from Lowes and attached it to the coupling and ran it into a Home Depot bucket through the lid. This catches all the blast media (aluminum oxide from harbor freight) so that when the pressure pot is empty I can just dump the bucket through a screen filter on top of a funnel and right back into the pressure pot. I'll include some pictures.

Stainless tank:

In the finished pic of my blast cabinet/pressure pot/air compressor, you can see the stainless tank on top of the cabinet. I got it for free from my wife's uncle that owns a small construction company that has the tools to fab that kind of thing. It is 3' long, 6" deep, and 6" tall. I know you can find them on ebay for 100 bucks but if you can find someone locally that can fab one, I'd go that route. I bought a 2 burner camp stove with legs from Academy sports to heat the park solution over and it works great.

[mbquimby]

I intend on video taping the system to show the set up better and post it to youtube. When I do, I'll link it here.

[mbquimby]

Here is some before and after action in the mean time...

please excuse the horrid photography, I took them with a camera phone (it was all I had with me at the time)

I think the park job looks much better on the Colt Officer's 1911 than did the blue (even when new) but I'm not a big fan of blue anyway.

[Clinotus]

mbquimby that blasting cabinet is full of kick ass all around. Great job!

[mbquimby]

Thanks man. I just happened upon a whole pallet of milsurp kick ass online and bought it for a great price.

[Fang]

Thanks for the writeup on the blasting cabinet. I was thinking of building one out of some type of plastic becaue I was worried about generating lots of sawdust off the inside of the cabinet that might lead to an inflammable situation. How much wood dust is generated by overspray during blasting? Are you able to reuse any of your media? Also, just to be clear, the vacuum cleaner under the cabinet isn't hooked up to outflow tube, right? Because the way the bucket is set up almost looks like a vortex media extractor.

[mbquimby]

I haven't noticed any real build up of sawdust at all with my cabinet. It did strip the paint off the floor, which was to be expected, but there isn't any damage to the wood itself. I use aluminum oxide which is pretty hard core stuff and the wood is holding up great and provides a much more rigid frame work than a plastic set up would (imo). The shop vac hose is running to a hole I sawed out of the side of the box. The hole is up as high as I could make it so that it only extracts the dust out and not much actual media. This is a must to be able to see through the window as I have tried to blast without the vac and it is like looking into an impenetrable fog. The bucket is hooked up through a hole in the floor of the cabinet that allows me to sweep the used media into the bucket to be filtered (through a pasta strainer) back into my sand blaster. I bought 20 lbs of aluminum oxide from harbor frieght and have completely cycled it through about 10 times and I have noticed no change in it's blasting ability. The portions of it that do get broken down usually becomes a fine dust that gets eaten by my shop vac. I can't speak to other types of media but aluminum oxide seems to be recyclable until is just disappears.

[Fang]

I haven't noticed any real build up of sawdust at all with my cabinet. It did strip the paint off the floor, which was to be expected, but there isn't any damage to the wood itself. I use aluminum oxide which is pretty hard core stuff and the wood is holding up great and provides a much more rigid frame work than a plastic set up would (imo). The shop vac hose is running to a hole I sawed out of the side of the box. The hole is up as high as I could make it so that it only extracts the dust out and not much actual media. This is a must to be able to see through the window as I have tried to blast without the vac and it is like looking into an impenetrable fog. The bucket is hooked up through a hole in the floor of the cabinet that allows me to sweep the used media into the bucket to be filtered (through a pasta strainer) back into my sand blaster. I bought 20 lbs of aluminum oxide from harbor frieght and have completely cycled it through about 10 times and I have noticed no change in it's blasting ability. The portions of it that do get broken down usually becomes a fine dust that gets eaten by my shop vac. I can't speak to other types of media but aluminum oxide seems to be recyclable until is just disappears.

Ah, I totally missed the shop vac hose. Has your shop vac shown any ill effects from eating abrasive media?

Sorry to keep pestering you with questions, but right now you are living my dream.

[mbquimby]

Naw man, you're not pestering. After all, I got the idea to even build the thing from Miso. I'm just paying it forward. I haven't noticed any degradation in my shop vac (which I bought at a thrift store for 10 dollars :grin: ) yet. I just clean out the filter by knocking it on something hard (outside, of course) and then blowing it off with my air compressor. I only do that when it starts sounding like it is stopped up or if I notice the dust is lingering a little bit. Once word of advise I had to learn the hard way (because I am dumb), you can't plug an air compressor, a 20 inch florescent light, and a shop vac into the same outlet at the same time. It will trip the breaker. You have to have the shop vac plugged into an outlet on a different breaker (or at least I did). I just ran an extension cord to the nearest outlet that wasn't on the same breaker.