My powder coating experience

I tried powder coating my 40-170 Lee TC cast bullets today. At first, I mixed white and orange to lighten the color. Instead, I got a polka dot pattern with tan. I PC'd the bullets again with orange and with a second coat, created a lemon peel PC on the cast bullets. My other PC orange bullets had to have two coats, otherwise the gray from the lead was showing through. I discovered that if I water dropped the PC bullets, the finish was slightly more lemon peeled than letting it cool slowly. I also turned the temperature to 450 degrees. Can I eliminate the lemon peel effect if I spray?

I also pour my powder and bullets onto a screen to sift out the powder paint. I then pour the bullets onto a tray lined with non-stick aluminum. Does anyone do this differently?

:popcorn:

1. If Eastwood* PC, 450 is too high (and that's if you are running a true 450. Do you actually have a temp probe in the oven?)

2. Speckling when mixing two colors is "not unusual." It has no effect on PC's ability to do its job.

3. Water quenching coming from the oven has no effect on hardness at those temps, but the thermal shock on the PC will crack it.

4. I use parchment paper for non-stick, and stand the bullets upright using spring-loaded needle nose pliers. Keeps coating uniform rather rather sagging to one side upon melting.


* What PC are you actually using ?

Keep in mind bullets probably will not have a 'mirror' finish. If there is too much lemon peel effect then it may just mean you have too much powder on them. A second coat will not fix that and may make it worse.

Bare spots, if not too big, are kinda normal. Especially if you are sifting with a wire screen.

Speckled color when you mix powders is also normal.

Follow the mfg directions on temperature and measure the inside temp of your oven.

I also stand my bullets on the base, but, I don't bake many at a time (rifle bullets).

Either one of 4 problems.
Wrong formula of powder
Contamination on bullets
Wrong ACTUAL oven temp
Not in oven long enough to get bullets up to temp then 20 minutes cure time min

Typically orange peel effect is time not long enough or temp too low to get good flow. Also will mean an incomplete cure leading to pc streaking in the bore

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Originally Posted by BJung

I tried powder coating my 40-170 Lee TC cast bullets today. At first, I mixed white and orange to lighten the color. Instead, I got a polka dot pattern with tan. I PC'd the bullets again with orange and with a second coat, created a lemon peel PC on the cast bullets. My other PC orange bullets had to have two coats, otherwise the gray from the lead was showing through. I discovered that if I water dropped the PC bullets, the finish was slightly more lemon peeled than letting it cool slowly. I also turned the temperature to 450 degrees. Can I eliminate the lemon peel effect if I spray?

I also pour my powder and bullets onto a screen to sift out the powder paint. I then pour the bullets onto a tray lined with non-stick aluminum. Does anyone do this differently?

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What brand of powder coat are you using?

I've had great success with the powder Smoke4320 sells here and following the directions here on the site.

When I and bunch of other fine folks on here developed the BBDT technique way back in 2013 (say thank you!), we just shook boolits hard in a #5 container for 30 seconds or so and picked them out with tweezers and put them on NS foil and baked for the allotted/recommended time. Perfect coats for me every time using that technique with HF powders and Smoke's powders.

Deviate from that and you are in uncharted waters.

I now use ESPC for everything. Perfect coats every time on everything - not just little simple boolits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [smilie=w:

banger

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Originally Posted by AlHunt

What brand of powder coat are you using?

I've had great success with the powder Smoke4320 sells here and following the directions here on the site.

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It is powdered Laquer.

I found some unpainted 40-170TC today and plan to paint them next week but just pick them out with a tweezer, then compare the results.

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powdered Lacquer.....

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I admit to not having any familiarity with that.
Who sells it under what brand name?

Powdered laquer is NOT powder coat. It’s a different product all together.

Can you post a photo of the package?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by BJung

It is powdered Laquer.

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ABSOLUTELY NOT!

PC is a powder & pigmented poly resin that melts at 400F and sticks to most surfaces when cooled. Amazing stuff. I use it for tools and other stuff around the home and shop instead of rattle cans and brushed-on stuff.

But..................you must have an ESPC gun and an oven large enough to bake the items in. And does NOT mean your kitchen food oven!!!!!! NEVER EVER.

Does shaking in a container to to PC the bullets damage the bases and affect (not effect) accuracy?

Bases are not damaged.

thermal shock on the PC will crack it. Nope, doesn't happen!!!

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Originally Posted by John in WYO

Does shaking in a container to to PC the bullets damage the bases and affect (not effect) accuracy?

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No I have many many customers using my powders and none have ever reported damage to bases or bullets

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Originally Posted by popper

thermal shock on the PC will crack it. Nope, doesn't happen!!!

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Weeeeell.... I tried it with Eastwood Green Mirror.









Didn't happen.
:holysheep:holysheep

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Originally Posted by bangerjim

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

PC is a powder & pigmented poly resin that melts at 400F and sticks to most surfaces when cooled. Amazing stuff. I use it for tools and other stuff around the home and shop instead of rattle cans and brushed-on stuff.

But..................you must have an ESPC gun and an oven large enough to bake the items in. And does NOT mean your kitchen food oven!!!!!! NEVER EVER.

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I bought this paint from a local powder paint business. The label, as you see can be deceiving and online, there is a powder lacquer. I finally went down to my garage to pull the box and look at the label and research this paint because of your flaming comment. So, this is a Series 49 TGIC Polyester paint. I wish my bullets looked as good as the picture online. I use an old used toaster oven to bake my bullets. Why do you think I'd use my kitchen food oven! As for the temperature mentioned above. I bake my bullets at 400 degrees. But, because it was lemon peeling, I thought I would try a higher temperature to see if the paint would flow out. Attachment 299560[ATTACH=CONFIG]299561

I did notice one interesting observation about tumbled PC bullets. I didn't like the powder mixture on the cast bullets I just shook up. So, I took water and washed off the PC. Except for the lube grooves, the bullet was a dull grey.

So, when I read up on PC, I saw where even among the correct types of PC, there were some that didn't work well. It's possible you've stumbled into one. I'd suggest getting one of Smoke's tested and proven powders to eliminate that variable.

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I use an old used toaster oven to bake my bullets.... As for the
temperature mentioned above. I bake my bullets at 400 degrees.

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OOC: How are you determining that oven is at 400° ?

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Originally Posted by BJung

I bought this paint from a local powder paint business. The label, as you see can be deceiving and online, there is a powder lacquer. I finally went down to my garage to pull the box and look at the label and research this paint because of your flaming comment. So, this is a Series 49 TGIC Polyester paint. I wish my bullets looked as good as the picture online. I use an old used toaster oven to bake my bullets. Why do you think I'd use my kitchen food oven! As for the temperature mentioned above. I bake my bullets at 400 degrees. But, because it was lemon peeling, I thought I would try a higher temperature to see if the paint would flow out. Attachment 299560[ATTACH=CONFIG]299561

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So it IS, in fact, a polyester resin powder (and not a nitrocellulose lacquer powder, which is very brittle) like all the other stuff we all use from Smoke and other sources.
Glad you discovered that. It should work with the right application techniques (it's engineered for ESPC as all powders are, but most poly resin powders will shake-n-bake) and correct baking time and temps. I think the lacquer misnomer came from the company's trademark on the package.

On the subject of OVENS:

I was referring to MY OWN PERSONAL use of my ESPC guns to coat other things than teeny weeny little boolits. Believe it or not there are/were some on here that use their kitchen cookstove oven to bake boolits in! I hope they stopped long ago. I have been doing this since 2013 and have seen & heard just about everything possible with trying to coat boolits!

Remember - the baking time is relative. You should use a pre-heated ACCURATE oven at 400F (check with a good oven thermometer, not the dial on the front). Bake for the allotted time AFTER the powder turns shiny on the boolits. Let them air cool a bit before dumping them in your container to avoid divots. You should have perfect boolits time after time.

But I recommend you buy your powders from Smoke on here. He tests all of them B4 ever offering them to us for sale. 100% good stuff!

Good luck on your future PC'ing adventures!!!!!!!! :drinks:

I found some cast 40-170TC cast bullets that weren't powder coated. I shook them for 3 minutes and instead of pouring them out onto a screen, I carefully picked the bullets on and placed them on a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil. The bullets were baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They looked like the bullet in the middle. I then allowed the bullets to cool until they were warm to the touch and then shook half of them for another coat of PC. The second batch was cooled and then powder coated for a second coat. The result was the same and they looked like the bullet on the right. Again, they were carefully picked up and placed on a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil. The bullet on the left is two coats of paint but I ran the bullets across a wire screen to remove excess powder. The bullet on the right is slightly better. I'm wondering if a HF PC gun will eliminate the discoloration and leave a nice even and smooth surface? Can I mail a teaspoon of this PC to test for me?Attachment 299674

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Originally Posted by popper

thermal shock on the PC will crack it. Nope, doesn't happen!!!

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That is a correct statement!

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Originally Posted by popper

thermal shock on the PC will crack it. Nope, doesn't happen!!!

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That is a correct statement! Does not crack when I quench after an hour.

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Originally Posted by BJung

I found some cast 40-170TC cast bullets that weren't powder coated. I shook them for 3 minutes and instead of pouring them out onto a screen, I carefully picked the bullets on and placed them on a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil. The bullets were baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They looked like the bullet in the middle. I then allowed the bullets to cool until they were warm to the touch and then shook half of them for another coat of PC. The second batch was cooled and then powder coated for a second coat. The result was the same and they looked like the bullet on the right. Again, they were carefully picked up and placed on a sheet of non-stick aluminum foil. The bullet on the left is two coats of paint but I ran the bullets across a wire screen to remove excess powder. The bullet on the right is slightly better. I'm wondering if a HF PC gun will eliminate the discoloration and leave a nice even and smooth surface? Can I mail a teaspoon of this PC to test for me?Attachment 299674

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Why not just shoot those?

I will. It's the best way to get rid of them.

+1 for smokes powders. Great price and colors look great.
I am not picky and doing a large batch on a screen type pan has no issues for me.
I’m not going for crazy accurate either. 9mm target rounds

I tried powder coating again today. I seriously considered purchasing an Eastwood Powder Sprayer but decided to try using the vibrator/tumbler. I had concerns that I couldn't clean the powder paint out but i was wrong. Soap and water had removed the residue well. Before, I used the shake and bake method and it was tiring and tedious. Slightly more than halve of my paints needed two coats because the paint baked on with blotches. Using my tumbler and running it for 20 minutes, a fine powder was left on the bullets. I baked them and the first coats came out like these. The silver is actually a clear coat. The other is gold. And while thin, it's not blotchy.

Very nice. Glad you tried it again.

FWIW, you can put a separate container (plastic) inside the tumbler to hold the bullets and powder. Means no mess to clean up.