Makin' new trays today...

[Beagle333]

I bought two pieces of aluminum (3/8"x9"x12.5") to make two nice thick trays. I was tired of having different sized trays and using the flimsy aluminum cookie trays that came with the toaster oven. These are nice and thick. I find that heavier is better because it dampens any fast motions while moving the tray of sprayed boolits. I'm starting out with a 1" grid on this one, so I can do the 45 boolits with plenty of room between them (to avoid "shadows"). I'm going to cover this tray nice and tight with regular foil to hold the 8-32 nuts in place, then I can put non-stick over the top for spraying. (I prefer 6-32 nuts, but HD was out of them.) Then I can just replace the top sheet without disturbing the nuts. I have done this before and I can usually spray a dozen times before I get careless and disturb the pattern when changing the "dirty" sheet. By then I'll know if this spacing is perfect for me and I'll JB-Weld the nuts to the tray, but I wanted to test out the spacing for a bit before I commit. So I'm building two of these 99-count trays for rotating out and provide fairly continuous action at the spraying table.

[williamwaco]

I dont understand the purpose of the hex nuts?

[Beagle333]

I spray mine using an electrostatic gun and the nuts elevate the boolits off the tray so the overspray doesn't cause flashing on the base of the boolits. It makes everything nice and neat.


This is how the tray looks after spraying:

[Dragonheart]

Looks beautiful. Are the trays going to slide in the oven or go on top of the wire racks? If they slide in did you allow room for expansion of the aluminum when it gets hot?

[Beagle333]

They will go on top of the wire racks. I left enough room (about 1.5") on all sides for the convection to work as well.
They weigh 5 pounds± each without any boolits...... so they are quite stable to move slowly.

[slim1836]

Could the nuts perhaps be pop riveted in lieu of JB weld if a flat base can be achieved?

Slim

[Beagle333]

I suppose you could. I don't have much pop rivet experience outside of aviation, so I don't know about their general use.
JB-Weld, even the fast kind will hold a little nut down to a horizontal flat surface though. I know it isn't rated for 400°, but it works just fine as nut glue. I've had three trays that I've been using for a couple+ of years now and you'd have to chisel the nuts off if you wanted to move them.


You would want a nice flat top on them that still let you utilize all of the area of the nut. The nuts barely provide enough stability to move taller pistol boolits. The short fat ones are easy, but the 8mm and 30 cal are quite a challenge.

There are many ways to get the powder on the boolits, but I just like the spray-on-the-tray method. It gives me a nice clean coat with just enough wrap-around effect to make sure I got the lower driving band covered well.

[rancher1913]

those are beautiful, just got a harbor freight gun and I think I will copy your idea.

[Dragonheart]

I would think a rivet will leave an uneven top on the nuts.

If I may make a suggestion; You have made such a good choice in materials I think I would go one step further an drill holes at the grid intersection. Since your metal is 3/8" thick, countersink the underside for flat head screws so the bottom would be smooth and your nuts screwed down tight. Also no worry about glue failure. If you cant find the proper length screw, a small cut off wheel would take them down quickly and leave a flat surface.

[Beagle333]

I agree, that would be really nice. Unfortunately my machine shop (kitchen table) is only stocked with a cordless drill, a hobby vise that attaches with suction cups, and a 10" mill bastard file. I'll just have to go with a dab of JB-Weld. The tray as described above would be super neat though, and very failsafe. Maybe one day......

[Floydster]

I use aluminum window screen on top of the non stick foil, no flashing of powder when I spray, the powder goes thru the screen on to the foil.
Works awesome, bullets do not stick and some powder goes thru the screen and bounces back on the bottom of the bullet.
Spread the bullets about 1" apart.
Floydster

[RP]

Seems like the screen would stick to the foil or did I miss something?

[Beagle333]

These are going to work just fine for the .44 and .45 boolits, which are mostly what I cast. The 3/4" grid is probably the best option for overall tray usage, but I already have 3 older trays of those, so these two will stay at a 1" grid.



And I just love the thickness which will provide plenty of stability and the weight will buffer the movements to reduce knocking boolits over.

[RogerDat]

JB Weld rocks - the trays are pretty nice too. The bullets are downright Beautiful.

Not clear how you run .30 cal on those trays. Most folks stand the long skinny (GC) bullet into a washer or lay them on screen/mesh, especially when dealing with the .22x calibers. Do the GC shanks go into the nuts?

[Beagle333]

This is how I do tall rifle boolits:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-rifle-boolits

[montanamike]

I wrap my trays with aluminum foil then cut a piece of aluminum window screen to fit on top. Set your boolits on the tray and bake. In between each batch sand the pc off the top and repeat. You can use a piece of screen quite a few times before you have to replace it and it's quick and easy.

[mongoose33]

I used self-tapping screws to create the pedestals; only problem is there's small rim on the head of the screw which doesn't allow enough friction with the boolit; it tends to slide off easily.

I've had trouble w/ the epoxy sticking; I use rectangular ventilation end caps (galvanized) as my trays, and even with scratching with emery paper they have tended to come loose.

I like the idea of the screws from the backside to hold the nut; if the screws are too long, a small washer could be used on either side to lengthen the depth.

I have this vision of using 1/2" plywood or similar and drilling holes through that plywood and into the tray; I'd then widen the holes in the plywood to accommodate boolits, and the holes through the tray to install screws and nuts. I could then place the plywood over the tray, the holes would line up perfectly, I'd place the boolits in the holes, carry it over to the spray booth, remove the plywood, spray 'em, and carry them to the oven.

Here's what those self-tapping screws look like on the tray:

[Maximumbob54]

I also used some cheap Home Depot bought hex nuts last time I did the same tray. Half way through I wondered why I'm using a nut that has rounded edges which seems like it would make the bullets tip and slide easier. It's not like they don't already slide too easy on the foil.

Haven't done it yet but thinking about making one with small washers next time maybe stacked two or three high. Should give the same partial base coverage and have a non rounded edge.

[mongoose33]

I also used some cheap Home Depot bought hex nuts last time I did the same tray. Half way through I wondered why I'm using a nut that has rounded edges which seems like it would make the bullets tip and slide easier. It's not like they don't already slide too easy on the foil.

Haven't done it yet but thinking about making one with small washers next time maybe stacked two or three high. Should give the same partial base coverage and have a non rounded edge.

You may find with sharper edges on the washers that you're more prone to tearing the NSAF when you press it down. Seems like there's never a free lunch.

[Beagle333]

I have found that a 2" paint roller does a fine job of pressing the foil down around the nuts with minimum tearing. I used a 4" roller with success as well.