Shake Coating Does Not Work In High Humidity ,Right?

[Case Stuffer]

I have read this over and over and over again ,just like the chorus line from the old Frosty Morn jingle.

I am been doing the shake and bake for a few weeks now to the tune of 2,000plus Powder by the Pound's Super Durable High Gloss Black and 1,600 plus Smoke's High Gloss Clear and it has often been humid. I have experienced no issue other than early on I decided that shaking 3 pounds of boolits in a cool whip container for two to three minutes was to much wear and tear on my hands and arms.

I have the smaller HF viberator / tumbler so I took a Cool Whip and drilled a 7/32 hole in the center of its' bottom, mounted it the the top of the viberator using the origginal ,rubber seal,fender washer ,wing nut. I place my Boolits in another Cool Whip add PC powder slip one Cool Whip container into the other and let it shake for 2 minues a couple of times during this I will rock the whole unit back and forth a few this.

I use a 1.6 CC Lee powder scoop orth of powder per 100ea. 125 gr, Boolits and there is zero powder left in the Cool Whip container.

This morning it had been raining, I PC ed 100 of my 9mm ,125gr LRN Boolits and got what looks and test as a perfect (for me ) normal two coat out come.

My theory is that the viberator moves fast enough to creat more static that just hand shaking / swirling does for many of us.

[Maximumbob54]

At this point I don't think static has a thing to do with it. Several times now I've had trouble getting powder to stick and when I just applied a little more muscle they turned out just fine. I cast from soft scrap lead so it beats up the edges a little but they are still more than shootable in quality. Shootable is a word by the way.

[Beagle333]

Tumble coating in high humidity doesn't work well for me. It apparently works fine for some people while standing in a puddle during a heavy fog. I am starting to believe that some people are just more or less conductive than others and it is a personal attribute instead of the weather that affects the coating ease.

[Maximumbob54]

I just no longer believe you create some kind of electrical dust storm in a bowl. The last tumble batch I did in a cool whip bowl just weren't taking to the process until I shook them a little harder. I do definitely think the type or how finely milled the powder is. That also seems to impact how well the powder cakes onto the lead and itself. The part I can't figure is once you release the charged line to the plate, foil, or whatever then how does the powder still stick? I doubt the lead retains any kind of charge. And it's not like I'm doing all this coating wearing footy pajamas while shuffling along on the shag carpet. But that might help...

[Bohica793]

I shake and bake mine during our local monsoon rains and have no problems. YMMV

[Dragonheart]

I have read this over and over and over again ,just like the chorus line from the old Frosty Morn jingle.

I am been doing the shake and bake for a few weeks now to the tune of 2,000plus Powder by the Pound's Super Durable High Gloss Black and 1,600 plus Smoke's High Gloss Clear and it has often been humid. I have experienced no issue other than early on I decided that shaking 3 pounds of boolits in a cool whip container for two to three minutes was to much wear and tear on my hands and arms.

I have the smaller HF viberator / tumbler so I took a Cool Whip and drilled a 7/32 hole in the center of its' bottom, mounted it the the top of the viberator using the origginal ,rubber seal,fender washer ,wing nut. I place my Boolits in another Cool Whip add PC powder slip one Cool Whip container into the other and let it shake for 2 minues a couple of times during this I will rock the whole unit back and forth a few this.

I use a 1.6 CC Lee powder scoop orth of powder per 100ea. 125 gr, Boolits and there is zero powder left in the Cool Whip container.

This morning it had been raining, I PC ed 100 of my 9mm ,125gr LRN Boolits and got what looks and test as a perfect (for me ) normal two coat out come.

My theory is that the viberator moves fast enough to creat more static that just hand shaking / swirling does for many of us.

I use the same vibrator concept just a bigger bucket for more output. A lid on my bucket keeps in the powder dust. Setting everything up ahead of time and turning on the AC in my garage helps with the humidity. If it's raining I have a light installed on the inside of the lid I turn on to help dry the air inside the bucket. Heating the bullets also makes a big difference if you want a single coat, but not necessary if you two coat. And Yes, a good quality powder and a color that will work.
Attachment 139320

[bangerjim]

If you examine the science behind what we are doing, you will see there IS static involved. The triboelectric potential created between Pb and a #5 (seems to work for most people) plastic container causes a + charge on the Pb and a - charge on the plastic. Even without black BB's! They seem to distribute the charges and powder better.

Here is just one of many internet results for triboelectric effect: http://www.school-for-champions.com/...m#.VVDK0dhMvmE

Just physical banging around will not cause Pb boolits to obtain a uniform coating of powder. Something is causing it, and I do believe it IS static created WITHIN the bowl.........nothing to do with any earth grounds or what you are wearing or what your standing on/in. Earth grounds are not needed for this process as well as ESPC.

This is still kinda a "magical voodoo" process that works one time and not the next..........for some and not others.....high or low humidity. Many...MANY variables cause erratic sometimes unexplainable results.

If you really want to eliminate ALL those variables..........invest in an ESPC gun. I have two of them and they turn out perfectly coated boolits all the time!

If you believe there is no static involved, add some mica power or graphite to the next bowl full of boolits you going to coat. Mica and graphite KILL static. (That is why powder makers add it to their gun powder.) I have tried it and proved it. Be ready to get another bowl because once you contaminate it with graphite, it is worthless.

banger

[Beagle333]

And it's not like I'm doing all this coating wearing footy pajamas while shuffling along on the shag carpet. .......

Oh great..... now I got that picture in my head.......

[rsrocket1]

Actually the static electricity is generated by the action of the powder attaching then releasing from the lead. The lead picks up some more positive charges from contacting and releasing from the container. I thought it had to do with the powder making contact with the container but they are both close to each other in the triboelectric series so there isn't much static electricity generated there. If you want to see static electricity, drop some smokeless powder into a clean #5 bowl and see how those flakes stick to the walls!

There is definitely static electricity involved in ASBBDT coating. I put a pile of coated bullets in a container without baking for a few days and afterwards, the powder had migrated into thicker areas away from the neighboring bullets. After shaking, I hand place my bullets onto the baking tray and find that I get a more even coat if I grab a bullet with my powder-dusted gloved hand and bang it on another tray, then place it on the baking tray. Just like when we used to play with iron filings and magnets, the filings tended to clump to the magnet and a "bang" would tend to spread the filings out.

For me, the BB's simply help lift the bullets away from the walls of the container. When I pick up a bullet that is touching the wall of the container, the surface of the bullet contacting the wall is often bare. A bang on the tray and maybe an additional twirl with my gloved fingers will cover the bare spot in no time.

As for humidity affecting the success rate of ASBBDT, it is really a YMMV depending on the powder used and your local conditions. I still stick with $4/# HF red. I've heard Smoke's powders may have a bigger margin of success. In the dry summer months I've had great success with #5 containers, Styrofoam boxes, 1 Gallon Ziplock bags, even a plastic flower pot with the holes taped over. The only failure I've had was a cardboard box lined with packing tape. On a summer morning after the sprinklers ran and the air was humid, I experienced my first "less than ideal" coating. This past winter, I was able to coat better on clear days than on days after rainstorms. I found that doing the tumbling in the garage was enough to make a difference.

[bangerjim]

....... but they are both close to each other in the triboelectric series so there isn't much static electricity generated there.........

Lead and plastics are significantly far apart in triboelectric effect potentials. See the above chart in my post above.

[rsrocket1]

Lead and plastics are significantly far apart in triboelectric effect potentials. See the above chart in my post above.

What I meant was the powder (polymer) and the polyethylene (#5 container) are not significantly far apart so the plastic container is not generating static electric charges onto the powder.