Parkerizing

William_IV · August 7, 2005, 11:09 AM

Question

Can Aluminum (T-6) be parkerized and does anybody know how well the home parkerizing kits work? I was looking in Midway usa's catalog and I see they offer some.

cntryboy1289 · August 7, 2005, 12:10 PM

If you need it to be black, I would suggest annodizing or having it painted. Parking only works for steel.

**Unclenick** · August 7, 2005, 02:35 PM

To expand on what Countryboy said, Parkerizing depends on a chemical reaction with the iron in conventional steel (it won't work on stainless for this reason) to produce the zinc or molybdenum (depending which type of parkerizing you use) crystals on the surface bonded and intimate with the iron in the base metal.

Doing it at home is common. I've used Brownells solutions with good success. Shooters Solutions has chemistries they claim are easier to use (they don't require atomized steel to initialize as the Brownells solutions do for best solution activity). In the case of their manganese type, Shooters Solutions include a certain amount of nickel to give a black color without a pretreatment as the more conventional solutions require.

I got a special tank welded up out of stainless for this activity; one long and thin enough to allow me to do a Garand barrel or operating rod in just one gallon of solution. It also has an aluminum heat spreader bolted to the bottom, which helps prevent burning the yellow precipitate the Brownells manganese type parkerizing produces. I use my tank over a double hot plate with an external temperature control. (You don't really need that last item; I just do it because I have such a control available.)

I originally used the stove, but my wife got unhappy about that approach. Same way she got unhappy about me bottling beer in the kitchen (sticky floor). I just had to go build my own facility or give up the hobby. You know how it goes. Great excuse to buy hammer drills and all the other fun stuff that goes with finishing out a corner of your basement.

Nick

mikikanazawa · August 7, 2005, 07:55 PM

There are different types of aluminum anodizing too! Most of the DIY anodizing kits will anodize clear to gray to dark green. For a black ano you will have to add dye. Personally I have had decent luck with RIT brand water soluble dye, brewed double strength.

The easiest DIY ano job is a Type I... Type II and Type III are tougher, but also require more equipment.

Just do a Google search for anodizing kits... there are tons of them and plenty of message boards dedicated to them.

William_IV · August 7, 2005, 09:16 PM

Gentleman
Thanks for the info!!

August 7, 2005, 11:09 AM	#1
William_IV Member Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Phoenix AZ Posts: 76	Parkerizing Question Can Aluminum (T-6) be parkerized and does anybody know how well the home parkerizing kits work? I was looking in Midway usa's catalog and I see they offer some.

August 7, 2005, 12:10 PM	#2
cntryboy1289 Senior Member Join Date: July 19, 2004 Location: Ms Posts: 1,160	No If you need it to be black, I would suggest annodizing or having it painted. Parking only works for steel.

August 7, 2005, 02:35 PM	#3
Unclenick Staff Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 21,060	To expand on what Countryboy said, Parkerizing depends on a chemical reaction with the iron in conventional steel (it won't work on stainless for this reason) to produce the zinc or molybdenum (depending which type of parkerizing you use) crystals on the surface bonded and intimate with the iron in the base metal. Doing it at home is common. I've used Brownells solutions with good success. Shooters Solutions has chemistries they claim are easier to use (they don't require atomized steel to initialize as the Brownells solutions do for best solution activity). In the case of their manganese type, Shooters Solutions include a certain amount of nickel to give a black color without a pretreatment as the more conventional solutions require. I got a special tank welded up out of stainless for this activity; one long and thin enough to allow me to do a Garand barrel or operating rod in just one gallon of solution. It also has an aluminum heat spreader bolted to the bottom, which helps prevent burning the yellow precipitate the Brownells manganese type parkerizing produces. I use my tank over a double hot plate with an external temperature control. (You don't really need that last item; I just do it because I have such a control available.) I originally used the stove, but my wife got unhappy about that approach. Same way she got unhappy about me bottling beer in the kitchen (sticky floor). I just had to go build my own facility or give up the hobby. You know how it goes. Great excuse to buy hammer drills and all the other fun stuff that goes with finishing out a corner of your basement. Nick

August 7, 2005, 07:55 PM	#4
mikikanazawa Senior Member Join Date: September 26, 2004 Posts: 449	There are different types of aluminum anodizing too! Most of the DIY anodizing kits will anodize clear to gray to dark green. For a black ano you will have to add dye. Personally I have had decent luck with RIT brand water soluble dye, brewed double strength. The easiest DIY ano job is a Type I... Type II and Type III are tougher, but also require more equipment. Just do a Google search for anodizing kits... there are tons of them and plenty of message boards dedicated to them.

August 7, 2005, 09:16 PM	#5
William_IV Member Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Phoenix AZ Posts: 76	Gentleman Thanks for the info!!