simple Hi-Tek coating

[Ausglock]

Verify that your temp is really set to 200Deg C.
Cheap thermometers are just that....cheap.....and inaccurate.
Get a Digi K sensor type and use that to set your oven.
very slight wipe off ( can just see a tiny weenie slight colour on the cloth) is OK.
Is is better to bake too long, than too short. Long will darken the colour.
Short will cause failure

[Shotgundrums]

I am amazed you guys are having success with coats that thick, I had a 50% failure rate at even 1.25 ml/ coat. I am now attempting .75 ml/lb first coat 1ml/lb second coat, size, then 1 ml/lb third coat. Pass all tests. Hopefully ill get to load testing in a few days.

Yeah it's a mystery. Thicker coats would need longer evaporation time or it'll flake off.
Further, if it's really saturated, you'll get cratered bubbly coating.

[Sgtonory]

Update. I must have burned out my toaster oven as it failed to reach 200 degree ferinhight. New oven solved issues. Coated 50lbs of boolits today. Now time to shoot some.

[Gremlin460]

Congratulations to all on this thread.... The thread has definitely shifted into the success area.
Newcomers are getting some fantastic help , and only a minor few are dogged by problems..

Well done one and all.

[dikman]

Hi-Tek referred to it as "strange stuff", and I reckon it is. I'm finding that it's actually far more forgiving to use than I expected (for the most part). The fact that once mixed it has a very long shelf life (and can be resurrected fairly easily) is really nice, as many things tend to "go off" once mixed and is often wasted.

As it was sunny yesterday, I decided to do a few more - 250 .44-40 and 200 .357. I've found that 20-30 mins in the sun, which makes them almost too hot to touch, works fine for drying. Come Winter, of course, I'll have to dry them in the oven (not much sun where I live in Winter!). I do about 2 1/2 lbs per load, not a lot but I only use the middle shelf in a non-convection oven. Some in Bronze, some in what I called British Racing Green, squirt method of coating, done by guesstimate. Two coats each at 200C, .357 sized after first coat and .44-40 sized after each coat. Result, no failures (still) . I reckon I'm getting pretty good at this, mainly because it's so easy - but I really should learn to wear gloves as my fingers usually end up coloured!

The Bronze look good after 2 coats, the Green would probably look better with another coat, but that would only be for aesthetics 'cos the guns don't care what they look like and the boolits work well with just two coats.

[HI-TEK]

Yeah it's a mystery. Thicker coats would need longer evaporation time or it'll flake off.
Further, if it's really saturated, you'll get cratered bubbly coating.

Yea Shotgundrums, totally correct, but it is not really a mystery at all.

All you need to remember is thick coatings=Not good, thin coatings=Good.
(here I go again telling folk to use less lol lol.)
The bubbling or slow drying phenomena, is directly associated with folk trying to coat with "thick" or too much coating mixtures .
The coatings, especially when applied too thick, will form a skin, and will take a long time to dry. It also absorbs moisture from drying solvent, by "chilling" due to evaporation of solvent, and this moisture is trapped below skin, that is formed, with thick coats drying.
The skin is very resistant to allowing total drying, and even if coating feels dry, the minute this coated alloy goes into the oven, the trapped moisture/solvent residue under the skin, becomes super heated vapour, and this lifts off coating from alloy, coating bakes quickly, and no or poor adhesion to alloy, and plenty of fine blisters form during bake.
After first coat is baked, smash tests usually will be tell tale if things are not OK, and, finish is rough looking and not smooth.

[Avenger442]

Popper
Had same experience with the 1035 Gold liquid as far as the color change. It was about 4 months old. But when I used it it worked fine. Passed wipe and smash and shot just fine with no leading. Since I'm not a stickler for colors (except the Orange and Blue Joe is developing) it didn't really matter that it changed color.

I can agree with someone who said it earlier, the coating is fairly forgiving if you thin coat and get it dry before baking.

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=popper;3549626]Tried rejuvenating some gold 1035 powder mix yesterday, > 6 mo. old.

Popper,
try diluting the old stuff even more with acetone.
It may work much better. The flaking is telling me that your brew was still too thick after dilution.
It may look dry but it is not.
When you dilute it, dont be worried about it being too thin, and simply make sure that all goodies are well mixed/stirred in when coating.
It seems a waste to throw it out if you can recover it by simple dilution and coat.
Please advise

[kryogen]

is the zombie green as strong as other powders? I feel like trying green bullets with my new rifled barrel.

[HI-TEK]

is the zombie green as strong as other powders? I feel like trying green bullets with my new rifled barrel.

All the "metallics" should be OK. Zombie should be OK. Many seem to prefer the Bronze 500 cooked well with three very thin coats. You can also use Gold 1035, and Red Copper.

[Ausglock]

Yes. The powder does discolour if left in the light. I have sample bottles under my bench that are darker on one side than the other.
Mainly the golds and the Zombie greens. These have been there for over 12 months.

[HI-TEK]

[QUOTE=popper;3550797]2nd coat dried overnite and placed in cold oven, cooked 12 min after up to temp. Still come out brown. Saw a tiny speck after smash test. 3rd coat will dry overnite.

Popper,
Just wanted to clarify things.
After coating the first time, it is most important that this first "stain" coat has been dried well and baked well, and is stuck on alloy, and no flaking or peeling or crumbs when doing smash test or sizing this first coat.
If these results are not achieved, it is of no use at all to coat a second and third time,
Additional coats will not fix the problems of the first coat, if it has not already stuck well to alloy.
Adding more coats to a badly stuck first coat, may actually enhance flaking and crumbs with smash test and sizing.
Once the first coating has been baked, and is not stuck adequately to alloy,
it cant be fixed, and is a re-melt job.

Just a quick word with colour change with time, yes, the material does darken when exposing to light on extended period.
I also had powder, in a 5 gallon plastic Bucket, sealed lid, and after about 6 months, the powder was like soft Honeycomb, no colour change, but was not a free flowing powder.
Tracing back manufacture date and conditions, we discovered that product was made when we had 100% humidity over a week, and the material simply absorbed some moisture.
This proved to be a benefit, as the material was less dusty when scooping it out for re-packing.
Product worked just fine.

[Rich22]

All the "metallics" should be OK. Zombie should be OK. Many seem to prefer the Bronze 500 cooked well with three very thin coats. You can also use Gold 1035, and Red Copper.

What say you about rifle and liquid black? Ok for various 30 cals with 3 coats or not? Have not tried the metallic yet

[Kjeksen87]

Third coating really flaked bad, seems extremely brittle when smashed. Doing 2 more batches, really thin coating - up to 4 coats now. Trying to build up 0.001" or so coating. I'll smash test one, then apply a thicker final coat, smash again. My thinking is a thicker coating is needed for the long rifle barrel. Earlier testing (+ PC recovered) shows it does 'wear' off going down the tube so IMHO extra thickness is needed.
Many plastics degrade from UV exposure but HiTek Joe says this stuff doesn't? OK.

My measurments after a coat with coating applied as described in the instructions ( 1:5 and 1ml pr. 400grams) was .0006" - .0007". Should be no problem at all to build .001" with Hi-Tek. This measurment was done with professional machine measuring micrometer. No digital caliper measurment.

[HI-TEK]

What say you about rifle and liquid black? Ok for various 30 cals with 3 coats or not? Have not tried the metallic yet

Rich22,
All I can say is to try a few with two coats of Black, size them to requirements, and see what happens.
I really cannot see any benefits with using 3 coats, but I could be wrong.
The coating should survive OK, but it must be well bonded to alloy and should pass all tests first. During sizing, there should be no coating removal. If there is, then it wont work, as preparation was not right with coating and baking.

[Rich22]

Even after 3 coats I am not getting a totally opaque, uniform coloration. I am thinking this has to do with the thinness of the coats I am putting on since it seems anything over about 3/4 of a ml per pound per coat seems to fail even after drying for 24 hours. I just did several pounds of 9mm with 3/4 ml per lb for the first 2 coats, then sized then 1 ml per lb for the third coat and this is the result. It has a very tiny amount of flaking during smash test. Coats were 24 hours apart.

[Ausglock]

Even after 3 coats I am not getting a totally opaque, uniform coloration. I am thinking this has to do with the thinness of the coats I am putting on since it seems anything over about 3/4 of a ml per pound per coat seems to fail even after drying for 24 hours. I just did several pounds of 9mm with 3/4 ml per lb for the first 2 coats, then sized then 1 ml per lb for the third coat and this is the result. It has a very tiny amount of flaking during smash test. Coats were 24 hours apart.

But how do they shoot. Remember... it is about the shooting, nothing else.

[Kjeksen87]

Even after 3 coats I am not getting a totally opaque, uniform coloration. I am thinking this has to do with the thinness of the coats I am putting on since it seems anything over about 3/4 of a ml per pound per coat seems to fail even after drying for 24 hours. I just did several pounds of 9mm with 3/4 ml per lb for the first 2 coats, then sized then 1 ml per lb for the third coat and this is the result. It has a very tiny amount of flaking during smash test. Coats were 24 hours apart.

Uhm. How are you tumbling? Are you tumbling "aggressive" enough before the acetone flashes out? Im guessing you are using Acetone ( ? )

[dsa]

Has the coating been sufficiently agitated/shaken/mixed prior to application?

[Rich22]

But how do they shoot. Remember... it is about the shooting, nothing else.

With any luck, tell ya in 48 hrs

Uhm. How are you tumbling? Are you tumbling "aggressive" enough before the acetone flashes out? Im guessing you are using Acetone ( ? )

Tumbling for approximately 20-30 seconds right after application in a semi circular container for probably 30 revolutions and then dumping onto the hardware cloth. using acetone with a 5-1-7 mixture.

Has the coating been sufficiently agitated/shaken/mixed prior to application?

I typically shake the container before dispensing via syringe.

I am guessing the coating mottled appearance is due to the very thin coatings I have to apply in order to get the bullets to pass the smash test, it seems almost anything near what you guys are using in amount causes a failure for me.