Re-Parkerize old Colt

[Uncle Ethan]

I am about to re-parkerize my 1911 china rustbucket and experiment with manganese this time- with a bath in cosmoline after to try for the greenish tinge of some of the WWII pieces. My question is, do I have to beadblast off the old parkerizing or will the new simply adhere to the old finish?

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Bead blast it first......

Here's an interesting article on the history of parkerizing colors.

http://www.hotflashrefinishing.com/Parkerizing.htm

 

[George Stringer]

You need to remove the old finish first. Also degrease prior to blasting. If you don't you might blast oil into the steel and it won't park well in those areas. I use silica sand for blasting media on parkerizing jobs. George

 

[Romulus]

Manganese phosphate will give a black color, I'm not sure your cosmoline bath will show through it...Gray park (zinc phosphate) might, though I've tried the cosmo treatment with gray park and the color was still gray with no hint of green...

Dunlap talks about baking the freshly parked piece in linseed oil

For more info check http://www.parkerizingtanks.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi. lots of info

 

[Uncle Ethan]

help on project

I wanted to thank you for the help and advice on my project. I had to go to Texas last week and my laptop is so old it has a kickstart, and I wasn't able to respond. I am starting in about a week, and I appreciate your help. I will bead blast after degreasing, and I may mix both iron powder with manganese. Thanks again.