simple Hi-Tek coating

[kevin c]

My oven does have elements above and below and I'm pretty sure all four (two up and two down) are cycling. It is a convection oven (the largest countertop Breville) and I do have the fan running continuously, but I also confess it doesn't sound "cyclonic" in terms of air circulation.

Tight weave mesh, eh? I'll be looking for some.

[Ausglock]

My oven does have elements above and below and I'm pretty sure all four (two up and two down) are cycling. It is a convection oven (the largest countertop Breville) and I do have the fan running continuously, but I also confess it doesn't sound "cyclonic" in terms of air circulation.

Tight weave mesh, eh? I'll be looking for some.

Our are fan forced too.... But I wouldn't say Cyclonic... just enough to move air around.
I still remove and turn the trays at the 1/2 way time mark. this gives more uniform colour.
Even in my big oven. I turn the trays at 1/2 time.

[kevin c]

I've always turned the trays halfway. I tested the oven with multiple simultaneous K probes and found lower temperature in two opposite corners (10°C low in one, 3°C in the other). A 90° turn along with a couple firm shakes evens out the baking and helps break up any "siamese twins" (stuck together side by side bullets).

Interesting that the smaller ovens take longer (same weight load?) than a wall oven. Less wattage so less heat? Less circulating hot air?

My preliminary tests in my countertop convection oven gets a good cure on Kryptonite Green at only eight minutes (210°C). There's just a touch of darkening, so I'll either lower the temp or shorten the bake. Of course, the darkening may be the radiant heat issue.

Looking for wire mesh or the equivalent. I'm assuming the finer the mesh gauge the better? I see 20 mesh stainless steel screen, that has 52% open area, compared to, say 5 or 10 mesh, that have about 75% open area with heavier gauge wire. There's even expanded perforated sheet. Not quite sure how tight the screen should be for radiant heat blocking.

[HI-TEK]

I've always turned the trays halfway. A 90° turn along with a couple firm shakes evens out the baking and helps break up any "siamese twins" (stuck together side by side bullets).

Interesting that the smaller ovens take longer (same weight load?) than a wall oven. Less wattage so less heat? Less circulating hot air? [/COLOR]

My preliminary tests in my countertop convection oven gets a good cure on Kryptonite Green at only eight minutes (210°C). There's just a touch of darkening, so I'll either lower the temp or shorten the bake. Of course, the darkening may be the radiant heat issue.

Looking for wire mesh or the equivalent. I'm assuming the finer the mesh gauge the better? I see 20 mesh stainless steel screen, that has 52% open area, compared to, say 5 or 10 mesh, that have about 75% open area with heavier gauge wire. There's even expanded perforated sheet. Not quite sure how tight the screen should be for radiant heat blocking.

Kevin C
In reply to "siamese twins " are suggesting to me, that you may have applied too much coating. During drying and baking, too much coating film will cause those siamese twins and possibly triplets.

Reply to smaller oven; generally small ovens do have smaller wattage elements. They also are not insulated, so a lot of heat escapes through oven walls. Smaller ovens struggle to also keep up and control temperature, and also have poor temperature controls where the set temperature swings are high..

Reply to good cure of Kryptonite Green at 210C.. Main points here, as you said, radiant heat can be contributing to burning coating, but adequate curing should not need a 210C oven to do the job. All the coatings should cure adequately after reaching 180C and staying at 180C for another 2 minutes.
Having oven at 210, can quickly over cook, and results in colour changes. Having oven at 180-190C give better and more reliable reproduction of colour.

Reply to wire mesh; (just use mild steel, it is cheap) my suggestion is to get a heavy mesh with 20-30% open area. The heavier strands of wire will become a heat sink and transfer this heat more evenly to air inside oven, especially if it is fan forced. Because of a reduced open area, majority of radiant heat is prevented to get to the load surface.

If you think about heat shields, on cars, they have steel plate that becomes a barrier for radiant heat. In ovens, you do want some open areas, to allow air movement to carry heat from mesh. If you have a large open area on your mesh, then you will not significantly reduce radiant heat damage possibility.
If you can get mesh with larger open area cheaply, simply use two sheets one on top the other, to disrupt ability of direct radiant heat getting to your load.

Oven temperature matters; Please consider, that the oven is simply a source of heat. Coated cast inside the oven is what needs to be monitored for temperatures and not the oven temperatures. You need to know, how long in a specific oven, it will take a specific load to get to 180C.
When you know that detail, just add another 2 minutes to time in oven. Simple........

[kevin c]

Thank you Joe!

My oven has decent temp control as K probe testing has confirmed. I bumped up the temp mainly because of wipe off, but I may have been too unaccepting of seeing any color at all at two minutes and beyond at confirmed curing temp. I recently have accepted a little color on the Black Cherry, and have seen no failures, so perhaps I can shorten the time at curing temp (currently three minutes for BC and Kryptonite Green), and/or lower the oven temp.

I may have to redo everything once I get some wire mesh in the racks above and below the bullet rack, but that's part of the fun!

Thanks again!

[DirtyDusty]

How does the coating work with suppressed rifles? Any noticeable build up in the baffles?

[Warhead]

A few H&G 130s with 2 coats of brick red.

[Tazza]

I'd like to think they would work just fine in a suppressor, less fouling than if you just ran lube. If you keep them say subsonic/pistol speed there is no reason for them to foul up the suppressor up any more than FMJ.

Those brick red 130s look really nice.

[dikman]

How does the coating work with suppressed rifles? Any noticeable build up in the baffles?

I can't see why it would make any difference.

[DirtyDusty]

Didn’t know if the powder coating caused more build up vs a jacketed bullet.

[HI-TEK]

Didn’t know if the powder coating caused more build up vs a jacketed bullet.

Dont understand your question.
Are you trying to compare build up with Jacketed ammo versus Powder coated ammo, OR, are you trying to compare Jacketed ammo and HI-TEK for fouling of suppressors, OR, are you trying to compare Powder coating and HI-TEK coating to determine which fouls suppressor more?
Both Powder coating and HI-TEK are powders, but that is where comparison stops.
I cannot recall any comparison tests being done with the powder coat and HI-TEK for suppressor fouling.

[DirtyDusty]

I was asking about hi-tek vs jacketed. I was using the term powder coating as a generic term. Is Hi-Tek considered a powder coat, even though it’s mixed with acetone to apply? I have seen 115gr 30 cal. bullets, coated with Hi-Tek, for sale. I was thinking about these for a 300blk, but didn’t know if the coated created more residue than a jacketed bullet.

Dont understand your question.
Are you trying to compare build up with Jacketed ammo versus Powder coated ammo, OR, are you trying to compare Jacketed ammo and HI-TEK for fouling of suppressors, OR, are you trying to compare Powder coating and HI-TEK coating to determine which fouls suppressor more?
Both Powder coating and HI-TEK are powders, but that is where comparison stops.
I cannot recall any comparison tests being done with the powder coat and HI-TEK for suppressor fouling.

[HI-TEK]

I was asking about hi-tek vs jacketed. I was using the term powder coating as a generic term. Is Hi-Tek considered a powder coat, even though it’s mixed with acetone to apply? I have seen 115gr 30 cal. bullets, coated with Hi-Tek, for sale. I was thinking about these for a 300blk, but didn’t know if the coated created more residue than a jacketed bullet.

I now understand.
Many have seen HI-TEK coatings, which are powders.
HI-TEK is not for use as powder coatings, and as you said, it has to be mixed into Acetone to coat.
To answer your question, I have not had any reports from shooters that had observed any build up in Suppressors.
In theory, there should be no coating coming off to cause such build up, if coated casts have been correctly made.
Just curious, what deposits were found in suppressors with using jacketed ammo?

[DirtyDusty]

With jacketed bullets I just get some carbon residue in them. Now with my rimfire, it builds up pretty quick. Mainly powder and wax.

I now understand.
Many have seen HI-TEK coatings, which are powders.
HI-TEK is not for use as powder coatings, and as you said, it has to be mixed into Acetone to coat.
To answer your question, I have not had any reports from shooters that had observed any build up in Suppressors.
In theory, there should be no coating coming off to cause such build up, if coated casts have been correctly made.
Just curious, what deposits were found in suppressors with using jacketed ammo?

[Stephen Cohen]

There is no build up in compensators when Hi-Tek is used so I see no reason for a suppressor to be effected in a negative way, in fact I would say that compared to uncoated wax lubed cast Hi-Tek would be cleaner all round. Regards Stephen

[DirtyDusty]

So where can hi-tek be purchased in the states?

[RedlegEd]

So where can hi-tek be purchased in the states?

Hi. You can get if here:

https://hi-performancebulletcoatings...ercoat-powder/

Ed

[SHORT SHELL]

I have solved the small cheap oven constant heat retaining problem years ago by simply leaving a large piece of steel plate about at least 1/2" thick in the base of the oven but any steel objects of large volume will do. The heat will take longer to reach the required temp but it will not drop much when door is opened plus I had fitted a better temperature gauge in the side above the bullet trays.

[RydForLyf]

Question for Trevor or Joe,

Is there any known solvent to remove the amber haze that builds up on the oven from baking?

[Tazza]

If you're talking about on the glass, i use a snap knife blade to scrape any residue that gets on it.