My first project 1911... Done! (pics attached)

[GIJOEL]

Started life as a stockish colt lightweight commander, about 30 years ago someone put a millet dual crimp front sight on it. I picked it up at a local show for a project about a year ago. I broke all the hard edges on the slide at a 45 degree angle as opposed to "melting" it and parkerized. I checkered the front strap at 30 lpi, and beveled the mag well before getting it anodized black. I was going to blast all the stainless for a mat finish, but changed my mind while I was looking through a hotrod magazine. For a under half the price of a Dan Wesson I have a bobtail! I wish the parkerizing was a deeper black, I might a pre/post black next time.

Parts list:
Colt ss mag catch
Colt ss safety
Colt ss plunger tube
Wilson Combat ss bushing
Ed brown beaver tail (bobbed)
Ed brown slide stop
Cylinder and slide long trigger
EGW pins
Nighthawk ss extractor
Swenson ss hammer
Fusion bobtail MSH
Fusion recoil spring plug
Wolff springs

 

[dcarch]

Very nice!!! Congrats on a job very well done!

 

[Greg528iT]

Very Nice.
I understand wanting a deeper black parker. I believe there are some other coatings you can (should) apply over the parker. Let the parker be the moisture barrier and get the darker color you want.

 

[Rail Driver]

It looks like you used the Zinc parkerizing solution. If you use the Manganese type next time you'll get a darker final color.

Here's the RIA I just parked two days ago using the manganese type. I dehorned it a bit more aggressively than you did yours, and I flattened the slide stop as well as blended the MSH and thumb safety:

 

[GIJOEL]

I used a manganese solution, the flash on the camera makes it look lighter. The first trial run I did came out a dark deep black, but i was testing on a chunk of mild steel that was much softer.

BTW that RIA looks good, i've been thinking about a 3-31/2in next.

 

[Rail Driver]

I used a manganese solution, the flash on the camera makes it look lighter. The first trial run I did came out a dark deep black, but i was testing on a chunk of mild steel that was much softer.

BTW that RIA looks good, i've been thinking about a 3-31/2in next.

Gotcha. I didn't use a flash. Thanks for the compliments. I had a great time doing it, even with the few difficulties I ran into (mostly because of my own impatience lol)