How long to cool before taking them off?

[bigarm]

I think I am going to try powder coating with my Harbor Freight gun today. After cooking how long do I let the bullets cool before taking them off of the aluminum foil? Any other last minute helpful hints?

[seaboltm]

I always let mine sit long enough that I didn't get burned. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes.

[Smoke4320]

when they are cool to the touch .. If you try taking them off before they are cooled you will sometimes tear the foil because the flashing wants to stick to the foil.. once cool they generally snap right off

[popper]

I drop in H2O, so immediately. AC, just let them set till cool to the touch - they don't dent that way.
Mine are on a flat plate so they (mostly) drop from gravity. I don't cook on the spray tray, haven't changed the foil in >3 months.
When I was cooking on the spray tray, I pulled them off as soon as I could as I got much less flash & foil tearing.

[Walter Laich]

when they are cool to the touch .. If you try taking them off before they are cooled you will sometimes tear the foil because the flashing wants to stick to the foil.. once cool they generally snap right off

that's the way I do it.

[Idz]

The powder coat is actually a chemical reaction. The resulting coating won't melt at the cure temperatures. The coating is tough and won't be damaged by handling.

[mdi]

I wait 'till there is no knee-jerk, screaming reaction when I touch the cured bullets...

[Jupiter7]

A minute or 2 tops. I just let them fall off with gravity. I only have one bake tray so I'm ready to get the next one started.

[bangerjim]

Cool to the touch. To speed that up I put the trays in front of my outdoor evap cooler.

They just almost fall off after that.

bangerjim

[el34]

Does anybody pull/dump them off while still hot but just after the pc has become solid, solely for the purpose of preventing the flange thing?

[bangerjim]

I only start to get the "flang thing" on the 3-4th use of the NSAF. I just throw it away and put down a new piece!

If you remove while still warm/pliable, you may have exposed lead at the bottom where it tears off? Never did it that way. I always wipe (literally) them off the racks when they are cold. As long as there is only an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weenie flange (!) I let the size die take it off. I have not seen any damage in the coating at the base doing that.

Remember, PC even when cold, is still semi-flexible (that's why it does not shatter in the size die and barrel and hammer test) and will squeeze/flow in around the base if there is a tiny space left exposed where the flange broke off. Don't rely on the squeeze to fill in big divots and mistakes in coatings! PC has a hardness of 24-42 (depending on who you ask) but will still extrude a tiny bit under higher pressure.

If a 1/16" or larger flange, time for a new piece of NSAF.

banger

[el34]

Thanks Jim. Without the beaglenuts I always get a nasty flange on new foil. NS side up. Always. The nuts help tremendously with new foil but if I use the same foil a second time I'll have some trouble but not if I pour off boolits while the stuff is still hot and a little pliable.

I have thought maybe I sprayed too much. Then one day Blanco was over and we sprayed some flat black. No flange. Coupled with your continual good results with no-nuts/flat black powder I thought the flange may be a characteristic of the glossies vs the flat powder.

[bangerjim]

You got it!!!!!

Matte black does NOT fill/cover as heavy as the gloss stuff. The matte gives unbelievable surface detail where the glossies just fill over most everything. That is probably why you are seeing the flanges on your slugs. I spray mainly black, but now with the new gun I received, I will be switching colors on a regular basis!

The glosses normally work very well with DT because they cover everything/mistakes/divots/etc.

I really like the color and feel of my matte black Ninja boolits!!!!!! Red....not so much....my 45LC's look like little lipstick tubes!!!!!! HA......ha!

banger

[RP]

I like the colors and shiny stuff I got some flat black but I save that for the dull stuff. And I know chrome will not get you home but most like the shine