Parkerizing solution

T

treebutcher

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
9   0   0
Location
Nova Scotia
Anyone ever do any parkerizing at home? I'm thinking about doing some knife parts. Most places on line will ship parkerizing solution but they list it as dangerous goods or they are from the US. Are there any home brew recipes that won't land me in jail or the hospital?
 
I looked into it a little, years ago. I never ended up doing anything with what I learned, but here it is, in case it helps you.

Parkerizing is a trade name for an iron phosphate conversion coating. The basic idea that is you immerse a steel part in a phosphoric acid bath, and the acid reacts with the iron to form iron phosphate that deposits on the surface of the steel.

The reaction goes a lot faster if there is already some iron dissolved in the solution, so it is common to add some iron powder when starting a batch from fresh acid.

Iron phosphate by itself is a rather light grey, mixing in a little zinc or manganese changes the colour, with manganese making it much darker grey, or even black.

The governing US military specification for the coating is MIL-DTL-16232. It offers a little insight into quality control and such, but doesn't give you a detailed recipe.

Phosphoric acid may sound intimidating, but it really isn't. It's easy to find, not particularly expensive, and completely non-toxic. It is one of the friendlier acids to work with.
 
If your only doing small stuff , you can do them in a stainless steel pot on a camp stove outside. Once there cooked rinse with hot water, then spray with a oil , like WD -40.
Pj ‘s works well.
 
I've used Klean Strip Concrete and Metal Etch, which I picked up at Home Depot to do a few jobs and it's OK but not perfect.

I have to boil a few pads of steel wool in water to deoil it then soak it overnight in the solution before using it to coat the small metal bits I've done.

Tedious but less than 20 dollars a gallon.
 
I bought the gray parkerizing solution and this is the result. I think it's not bad for a first try. Once I finish up the knife I will post it on CGN with sheath
20230506_124034.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20230506_124034.jpg
    20230506_124034.jpg
    64.1 KB · Views: 148
treebutcher said:
I bought the gray parkerizing solution and this is the result. I think it's not bad for a first try. Once I finish up the knife I will post it on CGN with sheath
...
Click to expand...

From a correspondent who does this at home - be cautious about swapping out the container that you use - he managed to get a pink or purple hand-gun frame when he chose to use an inexpensive previously owned stainless pot that he got from a GoodWill Store - apparently not all "stainless steel" pots are the same!!! If you have one that worked for you, do not be in a rush to toss that one out!!!
 
Potashminer said:
From a correspondent who does this at home - be cautious about swapping out the container that you use - he managed to get a pink or purple hand-gun frame when he chose to use an inexpensive previously owned stainless pot that he got from a GoodWill Store - apparently not all "stainless steel" pots are the same!!! If you have one that worked for you, do not be in a rush to toss that one out!!!
Click to expand...

I made my stainless steel pot. I welded a plate to the bottom of a piece of 3"x3" stainless tubing.
 
Made my own solution with a couple d-cell batteries and some ph down from the hydro store. Once it aged a bit it worked pretty good. Pot was an old medical steriliser sitting on my coleman stove.
 
Well the parkerizing solution I bought worked pretty good. I thought it would be lighter grey in color but I'm ok with the dark
20230514_164756.jpg
 

Attachments

  • 20230514_164756.jpg
    20230514_164756.jpg
    106.6 KB · Views: 51
A ceramic crock pot, oblong shape, works well as a parkerizing vessel. It's inert and easily cleaned up afterwards. I can do any parts, except barrels and Garand op rods in it. The crock pot is electrically heated, so no messing around with stoves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom