simple Hi-Tek coating

[dikman]

No no, don't do it, or I might end up buying another mold I don't need!!

[Tazza]

Hehe ebay listing coming up ��

[Avenger442]

Lees are my favorite mold. They are just easier to cast with, in my opinion. And the performance of the bullet is good. The most accurate bullets I've shot were from a Lee mold. I have several other brands including one of the more expensive aluminum molds. You can certainly spend more money.

I especially like the old hollow point Lee. I have a continuing search on Ebay trying to find one of the hollow points I don't have for my guns. The other brands barring one are just to heavy and the separate hollow point pin is inconvenient to cast with.

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=cityofthesouth;4399054]
BlackCherry_HiTek by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr



Cityofthesouth,
Those coated alloys look absolutely great. You have done well.
For normal use, 2 coats is just fine. Some folk are a bit picky if there are imperfections showing on first coat.
Second coat covers up imperfections and makes them pretty but very useful.
Using 3 coats should not be necessary unless you are using very dilute mixtures.
Finished increase in diameter should be around 1.5 to 2 thou with two coats.
That is more that enough to work, if all is done well.

[HI-TEK]

Your right and that may be where I go after I check to see if a single coat will work. But it would be great to know that I could coat once and then shoot. We will see.

Go for it avenger. I really would like to see results with one coat well done.
Looking forward to post good or bad.

[glockfan]

Lees are my favorite mold. They are just easier to cast with, in my opinion. And the performance of the bullet is good. The most accurate bullets I've shot were from a Lee mold. I have several other brands including one of the more expensive aluminum molds. You can certainly spend more money.

I especially like the old hollow point Lee. I have a continuing search on Ebay trying to find one of the hollow points I don't have for my guns. The other brands barring one are just to heavy and the separate hollow point pin is inconvenient to cast with.

my experience of hearing my good buddy cursing over his lee armada kept me away from them ; halves not closing perfectly, boolit sticking badly, sprue plate coming loose all the time, loose assembly ......and on and on ........ ; so i went the brass and expensive custom mold's route. the only thing i regret is the weight of brass.....and i only have 4 bangers right now lol....lets say i ordered a 6 bangers MP mold. not sure i will even be able to lift it up lol. blessed i am, the mastercasters are on the way,and once i'm getting them up and running i might simply put my hand molds in the ads . lol.

[glockfan]

so guys,since my question hasn't be answered,i throw it around again: can i do 10 grams for 52ml of acetone,or should i respect the original recipe which is 20 grams for 105 ml of acetone?

[cityofthesouth]

i was exactly wondering this.

recipe say 20 grams of powder for 100 ML of acetone. does the defenition of ''diluted''' would mean more like 20 grams of powder for lets say 105 ml of acetone? ; is this would be diluted enough or would it be preferable to add more acetone for what we now call a ''thin coat'''??

also, i prefer having a fresh mix,so if i do 10 grams for 50ml acetone(well,probably more like 52ml acetone for a ''thin coat''' ) , does this still respect the ratio acetone-powder ?

Sorry, I don't check in very regularly. I actually don't even weigh the powder. I just take a teaspoon of powder filled loosely level, and do 25ML acetone to every teaspoon. I also swish out my containers and throw that in too. Who knows what the ratio is with that. It's just whatever is in my bottle and tumble container washed off with a splash of acetone. I would say it almost doesn't matter at all but I am sure there are extremes. If you are getting zero color on your first tumble then it's probably too thin. HA! I'm pretty sure volume and weight don't exactly convert, but I think what I am doing falls into the very diluted category - half maybe? Wait, no that's wrong. If you accept that a teaspoon might equal 5 grams then my mix isn't half. I would say I am doing more than the extra 5ML of acetone but not cutting it in half.

How much you need is entirely dependent on how many bullets you're coating so if you need to half it, half it. I just toss in another teaspoon + 25mL acetone as needed throughout my process. I usually use roughly 3 teaspoons for 1,000 bullets. There is always left over. I let it get all dry and gummy in the bottom of the bottle. Next time I coat, I swish in some acetone and carry on as usual.

[kevin c]

I am fairly new to casting and coating, but will offer up my impressions and experiences.

I've always been very precise in measuring and mixing my HT, and also in the baking process, but I now think that a range of mixes and baking temps and times will work just fine. AAMOF, it seems that, given the different starting variables we all face, individual tweaking of the process to our personal satisfaction is pretty much a given.

Personally, I use a more diluted mix: 20 g in 120 ml of acetone. Two coats works well (black cherry). The only problem I ever had was a more concentrated mix that caused some bullets to stick together in the bake. The mix was more concentrated because the acetone was the saved wash that had cleaned out my coating bucket several times. I had also used a bit more of the mix with a smaller number of boolits.

The mix keeps a long time, so I tend to make 120 ml batches and add to the stored amount when I get below 50 ml or so. I top it off because I coat in batches big enough to use up more than half, and I don't want to run out during the session. I have also noted that the suspended solids in the mix seem to disappear as I use up the mix, but faster than the proportion used. I haven't seen any color or performance change, so maybe I'm worrying over nothing there (I use the nonmetallic black cherry).

My reading in this thread gives me the impression that small batches may be more variable and may not translate well when scaled up. Whether it makes a difference I don't know for sure, but, even though a range of mixes will work, I like consistency, so for me doing the same prep and procedure is more likely to give me the same results.

[glockfan]

went trough out 32 lbs of boolits,and i like how it came out.

1st batch was 10grams of powder for 54 mll of acetone.

the second one was 10 grams for 50ml of acetone.

of course the more concentrated mix translated into a solid gold color,like the real metal (wish it was it LOL).

the diluted mix gave a greeniiish color,which i like also. old gold is by far my fav color of all.

both mix ratio passed the smash test no problems. no flaking at all,a very solid stain.

now the only thing i must address is the recovery time. it takes so long for the oven to get back at the temp asked,that i must litterally eye ball the baking process. so i added some time to the baking considering temp goes down to 325 after opening the door to slip the tray in,then it takes 5 minutes to get back to 400.

my oven is '''THE'''' convection '''clack and becker''' everyone uses, i've put a generic brick inside the over to help ,but i guess i need some of those barbecue rocks ,which might keep the heat much better in hope it will speeed up the recovery time ; while the only downside is a longer baking time,so no biggie there; i'm gonna get a multi level commercial unit sooner than later anyways.

can see the different color tone between the 2 mix ratio.




BTW,the boolits are from my own design,the 35-145M accurate mold. they drop at .358 ,good for 146grs.all the cavities are dropping exactly the same lenght,weight,diamter.... quite stunning mold to me,tom got it 100% perfect.

[glockfan]

[glockfan]

second coat with the dilutued mix



first coat with the diluted mix

[cityofthesouth]

went trough out 32 lbs of boolits,and i like how it came out.

1st batch was 10grams of powder for 54 mll of acetone.

the second one was 10 grams for 50ml of acetone.

of course the more concentrated mix translated into a solid gold color,like the real metal (wish it was it LOL).

the diluted mix gave a greeniiish color,which i like also. old gold is by far my fav color of all.

both mix ratio passed the smash test no problems. no flaking at all,a very solid stain.

now the only thing i must address is the recovery time. it takes so long for the oven to get back at the temp asked,that i must litterally eye ball the baking process. so i added some time to the baking considering temp goes down to 325 after opening the door to slip the tray in,then it takes 5 minutes to get back to 400.

my oven is '''THE'''' convection '''clack and becker''' everyone uses, i've put a generic brick inside the over to help ,but i guess i need some of those barbecue rocks ,which might keep the heat much better in hope it will speeed up the recovery time ; while the only downside is a longer baking time,so no biggie there; i'm gonna get a multi level commercial unit sooner than later anyways.

can see the different color tone between the 2 mix ratio.




BTW,the boolits are from my own design,the 35-145M accurate mold. they drop at .358 ,good for 146grs.all the cavities are dropping exactly the same lenght,weight,diamter.... quite stunning mold to me,tom got it 100% perfect.

What's your loaded OAL for those?

[glockfan]

i'm loading same lenght as jacketed,which is 1.130 for all the nines i owns....they're all glocks or course lol.

while i might try a shorter coal for the first time ever,because some of them don't spin as freely as they're supposed to in the plunk test ; the resized .357 diameter boolit , as oppposed to the .355 for most jacketed , is probably the culprit here. i don't see the boolit lenght and profile being responsible for that since this mold is based on a proven bullet in my guns. it's a copycat of the hornady XTP 147 except i've replaced the HP's by a truncated cone. very,very accurate, on par with the jacketed version, very consistent accuracy .

[kevin c]

It may be comparing apples to oranges, but for your Old Gold mixes, the concentration of the stronger is 20 grams of HT powder per 100 ml acetone and the weaker is about 18.5 grams per hundred, while my Black Cherry mix works out to about 16.7 grams per hundred.

Two coats with my mix gets me the same color as cityofthesouth's Black Cherry, and both match the color others have shown using Black Cherry at higher mix ratios of powder to solvent. Your Old Gold color, though changed a lot. Of course, this doesn't take into account the amount each person prefers to use.

Anyway, HiTek Joe can chime in here if he wants, but I recall him saying words to the effect that the properly applied coating will do its job regardless of color intensity.

ETA: I love my gen 3's - my platform of choice for USPSA Production Division.

[Ausglock]

20gms to 100 ml is (was) the mix used to test the powdered coatings.
It gave excellent coverage (commercial quality) for 2 coats, which is what I was after.
If, for your own use, you want to dilute the mix, go right ahead.
I still use the original 20:100ml mix for all my commercial coating as well as my personal bullets. With this mix, I get Zero leading in the compenator of my STI TruBor at Major power factor 38 Supercomp.

15gms to 100mls is still a good 2 coat mix for the metallics, but will be blotchy with the non metallics. Black K15 needs the 20:100 mix.

[glockfan]

It may be comparing apples to oranges, but for your Old Gold mixes, the concentration of the stronger is 20 grams of HT powder per 100 ml acetone and the weaker is about 18.5 grams per hundred, while my Black Cherry mix works out to about 16.7 grams per hundred.

Two coats with my mix gets me the same color as cityofthesouth's Black Cherry, and both match the color others have shown using Black Cherry at higher mix ratios of powder to solvent. Your Old Gold color, though changed a lot. Of course, this doesn't take into account the amount each person prefers to use.

Anyway, HiTek Joe can chime in here if he wants, but I recall him saying words to the effect that the properly applied coating will do its job regardless of color intensity.

ETA: I love my gen 3's - my platform of choice for USPSA Production Division.

there is the oven thing into play.first batch i had this crumble catcher which covers the lower heating
element of the oven. i wasn't supposed to leave it there (i remove it usually) ,so got it out for the second batch which is the darker one. this product is very heat intensity sensitive from what i can see from the multiple experiences i proceeded to. it might be the reason as why the '''diluted '''1st batch has a silky smooth finish,and the second has a more '''raw''' surface texture to it ; and on this specific topic ,i'm not sure yet which one i like the most : with,or without the crumb catcher LOLOLOL!!!!


edit: and euuuuuu....metallic,non metallic.....what the hell are we talking about ??? is there some hi tek powder who are '''metallic''' and some others , '''non metallic''' ??? which one old gold fit in ? mettallic,or non metallic ?

[Ausglock]

Old Gold is Metallic

[cityofthesouth]

i'm loading same lenght as jacketed,which is 1.130 for all the nines i owns....they're all glocks or course lol.

while i might try a shorter coal for the first time ever,because some of them don't spin as freely as they're supposed to in the plunk test ; the resized .357 diameter boolit , as oppposed to the .355 for most jacketed , is probably the culprit here. i don't see the boolit lenght and profile being responsible for that since this mold is based on a proven bullet in my guns. it's a copycat of the hornady XTP 147 except i've replaced the HP's by a truncated cone. very,very accurate, on par with the jacketed version, very consistent accuracy .

It may be comparing apples to oranges, but for your Old Gold mixes, the concentration of the stronger is 20 grams of HT powder per 100 ml acetone and the weaker is about 18.5 grams per hundred, while my Black Cherry mix works out to about 16.7 grams per hundred.

Two coats with my mix gets me the same color as cityofthesouth's Black Cherry, and both match the color others have shown using Black Cherry at higher mix ratios of powder to solvent. Your Old Gold color, though changed a lot. Of course, this doesn't take into account the amount each person prefers to use.

Anyway, HiTek Joe can chime in here if he wants, but I recall him saying words to the effect that the properly applied coating will do its job regardless of color intensity.

ETA: I love my gen 3's - my platform of choice for USPSA Production Division.

Are you guys running factory barrels? Kevin, are you also loading to 1.13+?

[glockfan]

Are you guys running factory barrels?

yes.why not?

all the myths surrounding the glock polygonal riflings not suited to boolits is pure ....ahemmmm....pure....myths.