Need help fixing my parked 1911

[jrathke]

I don't know if it was a moment of being an ignorant male donkey or what, but I think I messed up my parked 1911. Like others here, I wasn't happy with my dry-looking, oil soaking, rough, parkerized 1911 and wanted to "finish" it, so after a bit of research here and on google, I came across this link http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/...h-vs-tales.html and thought, Hmmmm...this is easy, even I can do this. I followed Xavier's directions to a T, and baked it for about 3 hours. Problem...I now have splotches (some quite large) on my finish, mainly looks like varnish and is very hard. Any thoughts on how to remove the vaseline that has hardened?

I guess I should have wiped it down when I removed it from the oven, but I didn't. I just let it cool.

Any help is appreciated.

Jerry

[jdm]

Thanks for posting this, Jerry. I was actually considering the baking process, but am happy that I didn't try it now. I'll be content to just oil my pistol from time to time and let it season itself...

I don't know what to recommend, but possibly a degreaser of some sort. You could try someting as harmless as WD-40 to begin with and see if that helps to break up the condensed Vaseline.

[Tom]

Would you mind posting a pic or three of these areas?

[jrathke]

I'll try in the morning...my digital camera is a bit of an antique, so not sure how it will come out.

Jerry

[gb6491]

Cleaning baked on oil/grease off an enameled oven it pretty difficult, might be tougher getting it off parkerizing as you don't want to do any abrasive scrubbing.

RC modelers seem to like "Antifreeze in a crock pot" or Dawn "Power Dissolver" for cleaning baked on oil/varnish.

Dawn "Power Dissolver":
http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/powerdissolver.do

Antifreeze (green) in a crock pot:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=819927&highlight=antifreeze

I have now idea how either would affect parkerizing.

As a side note - If it doesn't clean up well or the parkerizing is harmed, DIY pakerizing is not that difficult to do. A quick google search will turn up several "how to" articles. You need a way to clean the old finish off (parkerrizing would probably need an abrasive blasting), degreaser, steel wool , parkerizing solution ($7), heat source (solution works in the 180-190 F range) stainless steel/glass/porcelain pot, water and sealer (motor oil works). I used a hand held blasting gun to do my SA.
http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/1911.htm

Regards,
Greg

[jrathke]

As a side note - If it doesn't clean up well or the parkerizing is harmed, DIY pakerizing is not that difficult to do.
Regards,
Greg

If I can't get it where I want it, I will either duracoat or durabake it. The splotches are more more like dark brown stains where the vaseline sat on a flat surface...the reciever is by far affected the most.

Thanks,

Jerry

[emilio]

99% isopropyl? just some really strong degreaser and a nylon brush and rag should do the trick, and maybe some touches from a lighter or small torch beforehand.

the baked-in grease thing sounds like a good idea. however, i wouldn't bother using petroleum jelly and would jump right to some unadulterated bearing grease or good ol' Cosmoline. Vaseline isn't usually used for its heat tolerance. speaking of, 300 sounds unnecessarily high, as well. if you're trying to get the grease soft, but not so much that it runs off, 200-250 will do it and lessen the chance of getting hardened or dried grease.

that said, i think i might try it out. i've always had good luck doing warm Militec-on-park treatments in the oven, so a grease+Militec mix might be in order (i mix my usual grease with it, anyway).

- emilio

[marshaul]

99% isopropyl? just some really strong degreaser and a nylon brush and rag should do the trick, and maybe some touches from a lighter or small torch beforehand.

the baked-in grease thing sounds like a good idea. however, i wouldn't bother using petroleum jelly and would jump right to some unadulterated bearing grease or good ol' Cosmoline. Vaseline isn't usually used for its heat tolerance. speaking of, 300 sounds unnecessarily high, as well. if you're trying to get the grease soft, but not so much that it runs off, 200-250 will do it and lessen the chance of getting hardened or dried grease.

that said, i think i might try it out. i've always had good luck doing warm Militec-on-park treatments in the oven, so a grease+Militec mix might be in order (i mix my usual grease with it, anyway).

- emilio

Care to describe your Militec-on-park process? :D

[emilio]

Care to describe your Militec-on-park process? :D
sure! it's nothing special, just the standard treatment the describe on their web site. here's my process, in unnecessary detail:


disassemble, clean, and thoroughly degrease everything. set the grips aside.
preheat your oven to 150-180F (usually the "Warm" setting). i've done this in a range oven and a toaster oven.
put the parts in a suitable pan or tray. i have a small stainless steel tray that works perfectly (and i pause while i look for a picture i had... and can't find it).
while you're at it, clean and degrease your magazines, folding knife, multi-tool, reel bearings... you get the idea. avoid including metals and wood, although the temperatures required for Militec bonding shouldn't harm 'em...
wet the heck out of everything with the Militec, and work it in with a nylon brush. the surface of everything should look nice and wet, and it's fine if it puddles in the pan - the runoff is useful later. some people do very, very, very meticulous applications (http://forum.m1911.org/showpost.php?p=501449&postcount=32) that i personally think are completely unnecessary. this is a metal conditioner, not chrome plating.
if you're paranoid about food prep equipment, tent and seal the pan with aluminum foil or wax paper. however, the MSDS for Militec (http://www.militec.com/msds1.html) shows very little to be worried about. (frankly, i'd worry more about inadvertently making some weird reaction with dissimilar metals).
stick it in the oven for an hour or two.
re-coat stuff every 20 minutes or so. i'll just take the same nylon brush, dipped in the runoff, and lightly swipe large surfaces. flick around the small parts in the oil, and i'll flip over the large parts - barrel, frame, and slide - so the oil drains the other way on them.
turn off the oven and let the parts cool.
rub in and wipe off the excess Militec. obviously, you don't want to degrease; the Militec has bonded (http://www.militec-1.com/metaltesting1.html) with the metal, but it will eventually wear off and you don't want to help that out.
apply grease, if you'd like, and reassemble. if you do use grease, mix it to about 20% Militec. this will re-apply the treatment to the high-wear areas that grease is applied to. i keep it premixed in a small plastic pop-top container in my range bag for normal use.


so that's it. i brought it up because i use Militec+grease normally, so i wonder if there's any advantage to baking in grease mixed with Militec or if that's just going to displace Militec and lessen the advantage of the treatment. judging by how good the oxide finish looks after Militec in the oven - and how good it stays looking for a while - adding grease may not be necessary.

- emilio