First Try - tickled ..... red

Batch one and batch two from my first try at powder coating. Followed Smoke's directions exactly, but still sweated the end results. After swirling and shaking I didn't think the coverage was very good. Things cooled off around here last night but it's still a bit humid. Thought I'd rub the container with some flannel to help build static. Looked around and spied my military wool gloves. Put them on, rubbed the container some, gave it the swirls and shakes and they looked great.
I think Batch 2 looks better than Batch 1. Guess that's from experience, eh? 8-)

Attachment 228744 Attachment 228745

They look great! Is that Smoke’s signal red? I have had very good results with signal red, signal blue, and jet black. I also mix for others colors.

nice to hear from a first timer that does not try to use harbor freight powder and then wine that pc is not worth it. smokes were the first powder I used and is still all I will use, it works.

Wheelgun, thank you. It was rather fun doing it. I think the color is what Smoke calls "Flame Red". I also have Signal Blue and John Deere Green. One may be for a BACO 38-55 bullet and the other for a Lyman 405 grain 45-70 bullet. Guess I need another color for a Hoch 500 grain 45-70 bullet.
Rancher, I read a lot about other peoples experiences with various powders. They seemed to work, but not consistently. Two things stood out about Smoke's powders. 1) He personally tests each one. 2) You follow his instructions, they work. Other peoples experiences gave me info about watching for warning signs on issues. The static charge for example.

After a couple of hours each batch passed the crush test, the smash test and the acetone test.

Looks good. Much better than the harbor freight PC.

Plus one for smoke’s powders! I started with his powders, they worked great from the beginning, why change. When I first started powder coating, I bought red, white, and blue. The white worked good but seemed to need 2 coats. I am sure it would have worked fine with 1, but it didn’t look great. So, instead of using it by itself, I mixed it with signal blue for a light blue, and red for a pink. I really like to mix the red with the blue for a nice purple. With a little creativity and experimentation the sky is the limit.

Still waiting for Smoke to come out with some good Chrome! I need chrome.

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Originally Posted by Traffer

Still waiting for Smoke to come out with some good Chrome! I need chrome.

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Chrome would be cool!

Why wait for chrome? Plain cast boolits with Smoke's clear gives you a plain cast boolit look with what is arguably the best powder coat that covers great every time. As far as getting good coverage is concerned, just do it in an air-conditioned/de-humidified area. My basement has both and coverage is never a concern. Of course, I take the convection oven outside for the heating/curing process. To help maintain good, consistent heat, I load a tray of lead ingots that when heated maintains good, even heat. Big Boomer

I first started with some E-bay powder that worked decent. After fighting with only decent coating for awhile I decided to give smokes a try. I will not buy any other powder that what smokes sells. Other powder may or may not work. I know all of smokes powder DOES.

Smoke is “the MAN” when it comes to getting a good product and advice!

A fellow member and friend of mine Shaggybull bought some powder from Smoke and then lined me a couple those powders and they just plain work!

Thank you Mr. Smoke, job well done!

Three44s

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Originally Posted by rancher1913

nice to hear from a first timer that does not try to use harbor freight powder and then wine that pc is not worth it. smokes were the first powder I used and is still all I will use, it works.

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I tried to use HF powder and followed the directions and it has worked GREAT. I also used some really cheap powder from Amazon, and it works great too. Can't say I'll never get round to ordering some Bacon Grease but so far I'm perfectly happy with the HF red.

Bill

I was one of the guys that tried HF powder. After moving on to Smoke's I gave all the HF away for the cost of this shipping--something like 5-6 lbs.

didn't want it hanging around tempting me to try to 'make' it work

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Originally Posted by Wheelguns 1961

I mixed it with signal blue for a light blue, and red for a pink. I really like to mix the red with the blue for a nice purple. With a little creativity and experimentation the sky is the limit.

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I enjoy the mix and match possibilities of PC, too. sometimes I end up with an awful brown color that can remind you of the outhouse but good news is it all does a great job of going down the barrels.

right now I have 3 lbs of slightly different greens to everything is green till I use one of them up--going to be a long time till it's gone

When you use a quality product and follow the instructions that have laid out and documented here on the Boolits threads it really is hard to mess up powder coating. LOTS of powders work well doing the "shake and bake" a few don't. For the powders that don't coat well I give them a try using the electrostatic gun from Eastwood (just the simple base model) even the poor quality of the HF powders will give a very satisfactory covering using the gun. That said, I rarely use the gun unless I'm shading a portion of the bullet (gas check shank or nose) Good job toymaker. You listened to advice given and didn't try to reinvent the wheel and got great results first try. Welcome along. Gp

I have tried several Chrome powders and the thing they all have in common is they need to be sprayed. The "Special" powders typically do not tumble coat well or sometimes not at all. Stick with the "Solid Color" powders if you want a special color, or just order from Smoke and get a powder you know will work.

Cast a couple of hundred bullets yesterday and started powder coating today. This is my second round. I'm using Smoke's powder. I washed the bullets in acetone, just to make sure there's no oil or grease, etc. Then I put 50 in my 2 cup Ziplock container that I used for my first session. Put on my wool gloves, gave the container a good rub down and did the swirl and shake. Didn't get the coverage I got the first time, and expected this time. It was splotchy. Went back to my notes and found the first time I did things in 25 group bullets so I pulled out half and redid the swirl/shake. Much better. So I did four sets of swirl/shake while the oven pre-heated. Once I set them up and put the in the oven it sure took a long time to get up to 380° F which is where I start my 20 minute count. It's 400°F by the time the cooking is over. They look pretty nice again. I sure am happy with how this is going.

Welcome to the powder coating club. You’re sure to enjoy doing it and shooting the boolits. It works especially well with those big slugs. (Easier to stand up and they don’t fall over when you close the oven door)

Eastwood extreme chrome bonded will tumble coat. I actually just coated some Lee 459- 405 HB and had too much powder and got a little bit of a clumpy finish. The chrome is a little finicky some times. I think grmps was adding a little silver to get a better coat. Check the powder coat pictures only thread and you can see some chrome he did tumble coat.

One of the good things about powder coat is you can experiment to your heart's delight. If it don't work ...melt em down and do em again. My kind of R&D.