The trouble with HF Red

I think I finally understand what the problem is with HF Red. The other day I bought some HF white. I figured I would try mixing it with some of the other colors that I have for lighter/pastel shades. Just for the heck of it, I started with HF red. I did get pink; after a fashion. Coverage by the HF white was very good, but the red that was mixed in was like ground red pepper flakes. I'm now convinced that it is the red pigment that is the problem, not the "carrier". They need to "grind" their pigment much more finely if they expect to get a good color coverage. The powder is just too course for decent color density.

Most guys I know can only get the HF red to tumble coat. The other colors need spraying. I get good coverage with HF red on low humidity days. On high humidity days it needs a lot more shaking.

Red sprays great for me, not so great on tumbling . I think HF yellow has been the worst so far. (for me)

I've been able to tumble coat HF white, but I've observed the same issue with carrier vs pigment coverage. I just double coat if I think it might be an issue (magnums and pistol-caliber rifles).

I have had the best luck with the red in the vibatory tumbler. Can't get it to work very well hand tumbling.

I use HF red to make my other GOOD color I get from Smoke go much further.
It's no good on its own.

I will tell you this, using a mortar and pestle to mix powder makes a BIG difference.
I put in whatever amount of colors I wanna use then grind them together. THEN gentle swirl it around for 30 seconds to a minute and it gets 'fluffy'. It dry tumbles much better.

I had some color samples from powder by the pound a while back. They sucked. I dumped them together and ground them up as I described and they worked great.

Personally I think granulation has some play in it. The finer the particulates the better they coat.
Using a mortar and pestle has made a difference for me. I got a stainless one off amazon for less than $20.

Somewhere I read where someone put HF red in a ball mill to make a finer powder out of it. They said it covered much better.

Most cheap powders are not finely ground. HF red works for ESPC fine, not so great for tumble. Larger particles need more static to be properly charged. Not a problem with the ES gun.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by popper

Most cheap powders are not finely ground. HF red works for ESPC fine, not so great for tumble. Larger particles need more static to be properly charged. Not a problem with the ES gun.

---

That's what I've always thought too. That's why the mortar and pestle helps. It's also great for completely and thoroughly mixing when making custom colors.

Here's the one I use and it works great, cleans up easy and it's cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XMKCAXK...tar+and+pestle