Removing Manganese Phosphate Coating AKA Parkerized Coating

[Artist007]

Hello engravers,

I'm new here and want to give thanks in advance for any help I might receive. I'm also somewhat of a new engraver. I've had some equipment for a while now, but just starting to really dig in.

I'm wanting to engrave the slide of a 1911 pistol for my dad's birthday. The pistol in question is parkerized. Is there a chemical or solution that will take off this coating? Or should this be done by a different means, like with sand paper? Or any other suggestions for prepping it is greatly appreciated. A little back story - I have just finished engraving my very first pistol, which was a blued Smith & Wesson 38 Special Model 10-5. I found a very effective way to remove the bluing, which was letting the blued pieces soak in "Evapo-Rust" over night. After soaking, the bluing basically just wiped off. I'm wondering if a manganese phosphate finish can be removed the same way, with "Evapo-Rust", or with any other solution? Thanks again for the guidance.

 

[monk]

bead blasting should do the trick. the evaporust way is new to me. one way to find out just add a bit to see what happens. muriatic acid "hcl", would likely work, but would be slow. one would surely dilute the stuff with water. also do it outside as the fumes will wreak havoc on yer lungs. check youtube, there may be info there.

 

[Artist007]

bead blasting should do the trick. the evaporust way is new to me. one way to find out just add a bit to see what happens. muriatic acid "hcl", would likely work, but would be slow. one would surely dilute the stuff with water. also do it outside as the fumes will wreak havoc on yer lungs. check youtube, there may be info there.

Thanks for your input, Monk. I'll see what happens.

 

[JJ Roberts]

I use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to strip the bluing and then use wet & dry automotive paper starting with 320 and 400 finish with 600 grit even for parkerized guns stay away from muriatic acid it will etch the metal and make it harder to polish also stay away from buffing guns you'll only dish out any screw & pin holes and round off sharp edges. J.J.

 

[Grayson]

I use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to strip the bluing and then use wet & dry automotive paper starting with 320 and 400 finish with 600 grit even for parkerized guns stay away from muriatic acid it will etch the metal and make it harder to polish also stay away from buffing guns you'll only dish out any screw & pin holes and round off sharp edges. J.J.

Thanks!

 

[Artist007]

I use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to strip the bluing and then use wet & dry automotive paper starting with 320 and 400 finish with 600 grit even for parkerized guns stay away from muriatic acid it will etch the metal and make it harder to polish also stay away from buffing guns you'll only dish out any screw & pin holes and round off sharp edges. J.J.

Thanks JJ. So the thinking is the parkerized coating can be removed with the same means as a blued gun?

 

[Meshach]

Parkerizing is an acid etching process on the surface of the metal, creating micropores in the surface that allows the metal to retain oils into the surface to protect from rusting. In order to remove the parkerized finish you will have to either sand blast or polish those pores away. since blasted finish isn't as conducive to engraving I would advise polishing.
as JJ said buffers can cause a problem by eroding edges and giving other engraving and stamping a streched look so wet/dry paper with solid sanding blocks for the flat surfaces would be advised.

 

[AllenClapp]

Brownells sells solutions for removing Parkerizing

 

[Artist007]

Parkerizing is an acid etching process on the surface of the metal, creating micropores in the surface that allows the metal to retain oils into the surface to protect from rusting. In order to remove the parkerized finish you will have to either sand blast or polish those pores away. since blasted finish isn't as conducive to engraving I would advise polishing.
as JJ said buffers can cause a problem by eroding edges and giving other engraving and stamping a streched look so wet/dry paper with solid sanding blocks for the flat surfaces would be advised.

Thank you Meshach. This is very informative.

 

[Artist007]

Brownells sells solutions for removing Parkerizing

Thank you Allen. I'll check into this.

 

[Artist007]

Brownells sells solutions for removing Parkerizing

Allen, I went onto Brownell's site and only saw supplies for actually parkerizing, but nothing for removing a parkerized coating. If you're certain of the product, could you send me a link for it? I would greatly appreciate that.

 

[AllenClapp]

The product is Iosso Quickstrip. https://iosso.com/products/quickstrip/ It is meant to remove both Parkerizing and bluing WITHOUT etching the surface. I do not see it on Brownells site either.

 

[Artist007]

The product is Iosso Quickstrip. https://iosso.com/products/quickstrip/ It is meant to remove both Parkerizing and bluing WITHOUT etching the surface. I do not see it on Brownells site either.

Thanks so much, Allen. I'll check this out.

 

[Meshach]

The product is Iosso Quickstrip. https://iosso.com/products/quickstrip/ It is meant to remove both Parkerizing and bluing WITHOUT etching the surface. I do not see it on Brownells site either.

Thank you for the link, I think I will have to purchase some of this product and do some test plates to put under the scope the next time I run the zink and or manganese parkerizing tanks. The description goes against my understanding of the process and sparks my interest for sure.

 

[AllenClapp]

I bought some for a project that got pushed to the back burner, so I have not tried it yet. Please let us know your results if you get to it before me and I will do likewise. I found it after reviewing comments by folks who had used it and liked it better than some of the more harsh/etching chemicals. If I remember correctly, there is a video around on using it, but I do not think that it is on the Iosso website.

 

[Artist007]

Thank you for the link, I think I will have to purchase some of this product and do some test plates to put under the scope the next time I run the zink and or manganese parkerizing tanks. The description goes against my understanding of the process and sparks my interest for sure.

Meshach, like Allen, my de-parkerizing project is put on the back burner also for now. I'm about to do a couple of knives. If you happen to use the Iosso product before Allen and I, will you post here and let us know how you like it also? I appreciate both of you guys.

 

[Meshach]

Meshach, like Allen, my de-parkerizing project is put on the back burner also for now. I'm about to do a couple of knives. If you happen to use the Iosso product before Allen and I, will you post here and let us know how you like it also? I appreciate both of you guys.

Yes, but I must admit I don't know of any parkerizing jobs that are in the que right now so I'm afraid I will have to put it on the back burner to simmer for now as well.. ha I suspect due to the time requirement of engraving the only people with more back burners than engravers must be chefs!

 

[Artist007]

I was going to engrave a parkerized army issue 1911 for my stepdad's birthday. I've never seen an engraver parkerize a pistol after engraving it, but I'm thinking a parkerized engraved slide would look pretty good if engraved right. I didn't want to strip the coating off the entire gun, just the slide since that's all I was going to engrave this time. And I still wanted the slide to match. But, I'm having trouble finding someone who parkerizes. I'm not afraid to learn and parkerize it myself, but the setup is kinda out of my price range right now.

 

[Big Matt]

The product is Iosso Quickstrip. https://iosso.com/products/quickstrip/ It is meant to remove both Parkerizing and bluing WITHOUT etching the surface. I do not see it on Brownells site either.

I used it on a parkerized heat shield and bayonet lug for a trench gun so I could blue it. It worked great.

It did leave a very fine texture on the metal that shined up great with 0000 steel wool.

 

[AllenClapp]

That makes my day.