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HOME- PARKERIZING
Ingredients
§ Phosphoric Acid - (chemical supply house)
§ Manganese Oxide or Dioxide (dense, heavy dark gray to black powder) also available at any chemical supply house.
§ Distilled water (can substitute tap water, but the distilled gives more consistent results).
§ A biscuit of steel wool (hardware store)
Materials
A burner (stove can be used, but a single burner electric unit is cheap, and this is best done on the back porch or some other well ventilated area)
A large Pyrex or stainless steel pot.
Proceed as follows:
§ Prep first!!! Have your parts degreased, stripped, sanded, bead-blasted, etc and ready to dip (suspended from copper wire or plastic (Zip tie or heavy fishing line works).
§ Add about a gallon of water (distilled if available) to the pot and begin heating
§ Add approx 1 cup of phosphoric acid. Remember your high school chemistry; ALWAYS add the acid to the water, and do it slowly !!
§ Add approx 1 cup of the (powdered) Manganese Dioxide to the solution.
§ Bring the solution to a very slow rolling boil.
§ Now add your biscuit of steel wool.
§ Stir this solution until the steel wool begins to disintegrate. You are now ready to Parkerize
§ Totally immerse the parts in the solution, being careful that anywhere the wire touches the part won’t show on the finished part.
§ Leave immersed for 20-45 minutes (depending on steel hardness and finish desired).
§ When item is ready, immediately remove and rinse in hot running water to remove solution and excess oxidation, dry lightly, and then spray with WD-40
NOTE: The solution can be used for the better part of a day. If it seems to be taking longer to coat items, try reactivating by adding a little more acid, manganese, and steel wool...as long as it is kept HOT!! Once the solution cools, you are DONE! Re-heating it doesn’t work. Once you have finished up, and the solution has cooled, you can add lime or some other alkali to return the solution to base.