Parkerizing and Hydrogen Embrittlement

[gunny33]

Hi All,

I just re-parked my bolt to get rid of the Greek Black coating/finish. I remember someone on the old forums saying to wait 7 days before using it due to hydrogen embrittlement, others say bake at 200 Deg F for 2 hours to relieve it. Which is right? Thanks in advance.

Mike Doerner

Hi Mike,
The plating house I work for does phosphating for several large weapons mfgs [military included]. We bake the phosphated parts at 215 deg for 8 hours. Bead blasting is ok but it folds the metal over leaving a smooth surface. Sandblasting leaves ridges and valleys giving the phosphate a place to deposit itself. No big deal either way, you may see the phosphate coating ware away a little faster is all. Hope this helps.

Bill