that went well

[runfiverun]

I have been slowly gathering stuff to try some powder coating.
I sent the check off to Randy for some of his powder and both of us have been waiting for it to get there semi-patiently.

in the mean time I found a decent sized convection oven for 49$.
the wife donated a shaker bucket.
I found an old Tupperware bowl and a little strainer to get the BB's out of the boolits at the second hand store.
and since littlegirl was going to pokey today I had her grab some harbor freight red powder.
I dig around in the gun room for a bit and find some airsoft BB's I confiscated off the kids 10 or so years back.
no they ain't black but it was either these or some orange ones, and these ones glow in the dark so the cool factor has to count for something [right?]

now I got no idea what I'm doing here, but figure the worst that can happen is they go in the reclaim bucket?

so I measure out a half a handful of BB's, grab 3 handfuls of boolits, and mark-1 eyeball in about 3.5 tbs of the powder.
I give it a few side to side slides and a flip roll, then a bit of an up and down shake, and some more roll flips then another up and down some more side to side and a good hard up and down and they look kind of splotchy covered in powder.
maybe the little shaker container being square and not to tall has something to do with it.
but the oven is about warmed up so I start sorting things out and get the wax paper on the little tray.
[stop laughing]
I get the nitrile glove on and transfer the boolits over to the tray, and get it into the oven without tipping everything over.

now they are in the oven and I'm watching them get all wet then start the timer for 20 minutes.
okay now what?
they just sit there looking all wet for 22 minutes at about 390-f and I decide they have cooked long enough.
okay not bad, now to dump them off the tray, off the wax paper,,,, off,, the,,, wax,, paper... dammit.
this is when the wife happens to come out and asks about the paper on the back of some of the boolits, I told her it was what I had.
she is apparently smart enough to know that parchment paper will work a lot better.
[and where we keep it in the house]
oh well, they smashed down just fine with the 6lb hammer and sized without a hitch.
the splotchy went away while they cooked. [shrug]
so I'm going with they are good to go.
it takes a lot longer to do this than size-lubing for sure [and I have powder over half the table]

but I'm gonna give it a fair shot.
I have some 38 & 41 cal wad cutters types i'll do tomorrow and will shoot them side by side with their companions.

[BUCKEYE BANDIT]

This site is like stoppin for (1) beer with the guys after work .It just never goes as planned,refused to fall into this rabbit hole called "coatings",I was just fine with NRA lube and the old lubesizer.

Had everything bought and paid for before retirement,now its toaster ovens,BB's,silicone mats,non stick foil,cookie sheets,Powder coat,Hi-Tek,exhaust fans, on and on.

Only hope is a large COLA with the new admin. .

Forgot the new molds for 300AAC,but that's another sob story.

[Taylor]

My son got a $1.27 pay increase on his VA.

[Electric88]

Powdercoating is my next endeavor, though I may just jump straight into the gun from Harbor Freight and skip over the shake and bake method.

[Walter Laich]

My VA went up 98¢ but I digress

sounds like you had a great first effort--I was able to get the non-stick AF to stick to mine.

Sounds like you don't need this but be sure your oven's temp is accurate. You can get a cheap oven thermometer at wally world for around $5.

A round container is much better for this: you swirl the bullets around for about 30 seconds (you time may vary) then I flip the container over for about 3-4 times. Pop the cover and put the bullets on the tray.
I've found that a silicone mat works the best of all the materials I have used to set the bullets on

With the therm. inside I cook for 10 minutes once it reaches 400ºF

[rancher1913]

we got r5r over to the dark side

[TexasGrunt]

My son got a $1.27 pay increase on his VA.

I hadn't figured up what the increase gave me. But your post got me curious. $9.52 a month. I'm RICH...and totally broken.

[DerekP Houston]

we got r5r over to the dark side

lmao we hooked another one. The wax paper thing made me crack up.

[popper]

airsoft BB's I confiscated off the kids 10 or so years back. Grinch!! Wax paper?? dark side?? Nay, the bright side.

[runfiverun]

I got the thermometer and I know one side of the oven gets a little hotter than the other.
I wanted to use the oven to replace my old one for heat treating, and figured what the heck.
I'm working over a slick sided mold for another member here and had some test boolits sitting there. [shrug]
I figured for a whopping 7$ more [powder and little strainer] I'd give it a go.

this oven is a little weird.
when it's empty it over shoots the set temp by a good 50-f.
when it's full it under shoots by about 15f.

[Grmps]

Put a PID on the oven and be certain of what you have.

[OS OK]

I see where your going with this r... your a sly ole dog...

its . . . "Wax Checks and PC at the same time!"


as soon as I read down to wax paper...then read it a second time, I heard brakes skidding on the pavement...in my head!

[pmer]

It should only get better from here!

[runfiverun]

I spent a bit more time with it yesterday, and figured out a couple of things.

1. the parchment paper works a lot better. [except not the aluminum side don't use that one]
2. my 358091's will get immediately stuck in the 358 size die with PC on them.
3. the powder breaks down after a bit of shaking so clean the old junk out and toss it.
[yeah I know it's a whole TBS of powder, the stuff costs like 5$ a pound get over it]

I tried a new container, it's a cup actually and is the larger brother to the ones I use to swirl lube the 45/45/10 lube.
but it seems to work in like 10-15 seconds.
I think the cup is a 5 or a 2 [or sumthin, I couldn't make it out] but the lids is for sure a 2 in the triangle.

shaking works good to get the powder on.
swirling distributes it better.

this takes forever. OMG!!
the shaking goes super fast.
standing boolits up and making sure the coating is all even takes FOREVER.
[laying them down sucks, you get a flat spot on them]
waiting for them to turn wet so you can set the timer is like watching paint dry, only you need a flashlight to see in the oven.

[OS OK]

And...and eventually you'll have to start windexing the window cuz the powder fogs it up.

Now admit it r... your having a good time! Just look at all those perty little buggers...

[Dutchninja]

No stick and never have to buy NSAF or use up expensive parchment paper.

AmazonBasics Silicone Baking Mat - 2 Pack

[454PB]

Try a Ziploc freezer bag instead of a bowl. You can use a tumbling effect rather than the shaking effect. It's quieter and coats more evenly. I also skip the BB's and get excellent coverage.

[LAKEMASTER]

Try a Ziploc freezer bag instead of a bowl. You can use a tumbling effect rather than the shaking effect. It's quieter and coats more evenly. I also skip the BB's and get excellent coverage.

with harbor freight powder ?

[dbosman]

Red. It covers best. Some people have no issues with the black, white, or yellow, but Red works for everyone. Clip one of the ubiquitous 20% off coupons and the price is under $5.

with harbor freight powder ?

Attachment 186865

[BrutalAB]

Sounds like everyone is having fun. I've coated somewhere in the neighborhood of 6k and still have mishaps. Just this morning the lid of my cool whip bowl popped off during shaking.... the worst part is when I try to close it back and resume only for the bastard bbs to be stuck in the lid and have an immediate repeat.