Oven or ovens for powder coating

[Nick Quick]

I bought an amazing oven with convection from an add listing. It is big and I could cook at a time 1000 of 9 mm easy. But when I reached home I had to let it there and hit the road so I didn't have time to do any work in it. When I came back home my wife was cooking yummy things in it and she was so happy with the size and fit in the kitchen I just couldn't tell her it was meant for another purpose.
I guess I'll have to find another one. At least it's an amazing piece of hardware in the kitchen and I benefit of it anyways.
I checked it temperature accuracy wise and the bastard works absolutely perfect. I kinda have mixed feelings and not sure if I should like or not like the whole situation.

[Grmps]

Nick, what was the brand, make and model of YOUR WIFE"S new oven

[Nick Quick]

It is a Hamilton Beach but it is a model I never seen anywhere for sale. It is an older model most likely but the lady I bought it from kept the thing in pristine condition. It is much larger than the ones for sale nowadays. Not sure about the model by heart.
I got it now: "my wife new oven". Well, it's true.
I'm back hunting for another oven. Who knows what that might bring.

[lwknight]

My $25 Craigslist oven. As far as portability- I took some old pallet wood I had and bought about $15 worth of casters and made a rolling base. Well- there was 15 feet of 10/3 and plug, too, which added a little to the expense. I could have gotten by with 5 feet. There is a 220 outlet just above and beside the oven in the cubby it resides in. I made the power cable long just in case I needed to pull it out for some reason. I can easily do 3,000 bullets at a time.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

Perfect set up. You can also cook your bacon without stinking up the house or having to clean up the mess unless you just want to.

[bangerjim]

For those of you using the shake-N-bake, what baskets are you using or are you making your own out of hardware cloth ?

No "baskets" here! I pick up every slug and place on NSAF on the oven racks. Not divots or lay marks that way. Use hemostats. It goes pretty fast with practice!!!!!!!!

[TXCOONDOG]

No "baskets" here! I pick up every slug and place on NSAF on the oven racks. Not divots or lay marks that way. Use hemostats. It goes pretty fast with practice!!!!!!!!

I used the same method and even though I beat the hemostats on the side of the container to knock off the excess, I'm getting feet around the boolits base from puddling.

I need to work on a better method to reduce the amount of powder coat even though there was no clumbing or build up of any kind.

[Loudy13]

For a "not a bulky kitchen oven" check out the Oster big convection oven at WalMart. Totally digital control and display. Holds temp within a degree or two. (Who needs to mess with a PID controller?!?!?) HUGE cavity, yet totally portable. Remember convection ovens run 25F cooler than what your want, so you must set at 425 to get your stable 400F. That applies to big kitchen ovens also!

I get 6-800 boolits in mine at a time with multi racks I made. Very inexpensive. And Oster is a solid brand unlike most of those cheap little ***'s most try to use.

I bought this same oven after reading what BJ said about it and I love the oven it works great and holds plenty!

[Smoke4320]

I used the same method and even though I beat the hemostats on the side of the container to knock off the excess, I'm getting feet around the boolits base from puddling.

I need to work on a better method to reduce the amount of powder coat even though there was no clumbing or build up of any kind.

check this out totally eliminates tapping each bullet and makes a nice even coat on the bullets .. Faster too once you get the hang of it
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-from-the-BB-s

[TXCOONDOG]

check this out totally eliminates tapping each bullet and makes a nice even coat on the bullets .. Faster too once you get the hang of it
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-from-the-BB-s

Greatly appreciate that link as it worked perfectly and the boolits with your "Clear" are so smooth.

I went with a convention oven that has two racks large enough for full size pizzas from Wally world.

Do you guys perfer the non stick alumium foil, parchment paper or silcone baking matts for standing boolits on ? If you say silicone mat, my questions would be: how many usages do you get and/or is the PC hard to clean off ?

[Smoke4320]

TXcoondog
when using the above punched hole bowl method to separate the bbs and powder it eliminates all the extra powder on the bullets and the resulting flashing .. I have yet to replace the FIRST piece of NON stick foil on a tray and there have been many many batches on them

[TXCOONDOG]

TXcoondog
when using the above punched hole bowl method to separate the bbs and powder it eliminates all the extra powder on the bullets and the resulting flashing .. I have yet to replace the FIRST piece of NON stick foil on a tray and there have been many many batches on them

I used parchment paper and didn't see any "flashing" either but only get two usages, therefore, wasn't sure about long term so thanks for the information.

FYI- I found two plastic bowls made by Sterilite with the # 5 recycle symbol for $.75 each. Drilled 1/4" holes in one bowl and cleaned holes with chamfer tool. I dump from cool whip bowl into the bowl with the holes, sift into the other bowl and dump BB's and excess powder back into the cool whip bowl. When done, I wipe out the excess powder as it doesn't stick to the plastic.

[AZPaul]

I do have some advice for someone who starts powder coating. My first batch I tried melted some of my bullets when set to 450. I put a thermometer in there and it was really reaching 650 when set at that temp. So my advice is either get a thermometer or only try a few bullets at a time.

[TXCOONDOG]

I melted a few bullets with my first oven so I check with a thermometer. Even the new convection has variations depending if it's in bake or pizza mode. The center of the oven runs 25-35 degrees hotter than the front or rear and found that dark color pans runs 25 degree hotter than an aluminum cookie sheet.

[TXCOONDOG]

Smoke4320,

I like to PC at 450 degrees for 30 minutes using COWW alloy and water dropping out of the oven. I'm using your Clear and wondered if you know whether or not if that is going to cause issues ?

With powder coats from Eastwood, it's not an issue or at least not in the 11 months of doing this. The only issue is not heating to 375-400 degrees for a minimum of 15min (leaves residue/fouling in the barrel) so I am assuming the same with your product too.

[Dragonheart]

Most of us old timers at powder coating keep posting the same advice. Buy a good thermometer and put it so it can be read through the oven's glass door. That way you don't need to guess what the temperature is because most dials are not that accurate. I have used a glass Taylor Oven Guide Thermometer, which is accurate and reacts quickly to changes in temperature since I started PC and I have never had melted or under cured bullets. The cost for the Taylor is $10 delivered from Amazon. Your time spent on one batch of bad bullets is worth that. The only powder that I am aware of that the manufacturer suggests 450 degrees is chrome. For most powders the manufacture's recommend 10 minutes at 400 degrees, longer or a little hotter doesn't seem to make a difference, but it doesn't gain you anything once the polymer has reached the proper temp and time to cure. Too hot and the powder will discolor. This whole process is really easy if you start out with the right basic equipment.

[TXCOONDOG]

Let me say it this way, I heat treat and water drop my boolits for the extra bhn so that is why I'm asking Smoke about his powder.

[Dragonheart]

Let me say it this way, I heat treat and water drop my boolits for the extra bhn so that is why I'm asking Smoke about his powder.

Sorry, not my intention to break in and I will let Smoke comment on his powders. I assume you are new to PC and there are advantages over lubed bullets you might not be aware of. For complete curing I haven't had any problems with Smoke's powder at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. If you are PC handgun bullets bhn is not an issue. I have tested pure lead at 1200 fps in handguns with no leading, something the alloy pressure tables would say isn't possible. The reason is the PC performs the duties of a jacket. For rifle bullets velocity and accuracy the design and fit of the bullet is much more important than the bhn as a properly cured polymer jacket will withstand the force of spin up even on a softer alloy.

[TXCOONDOG]

DH,

I appreciate your feedback. I just wanted to be sure that it was clear of why I coat at 450.

The reason for the extra bhn is for an AR as the boolits can take a beating on the feed ramp, etc which lead to accuracy issues and of coarse, prevent baffle strikes when running supressed. It took a little trial and error to figure out what was happening.

Edit for additional information:

Why not run a alloy mix that gives (known) a higher bhn ?

Testing with a gel block showed:

1. Using a mix for Lyman # 2 that the boolit zips through and exits the block.

2. Using a 50/50 mix of COWW and pure lead, heat treating and water droping gave a final bhn state of 16-17 which prevented the nose, etc of the bullet from deforming on the feed ramp. Once fired, the rifling (what I believe) softens the lead as there was enough expansion that the boolits stopped about 3/4 of the way in the block, but sometimes turns and exits anyway.

[Dragonheart]

Most of my shooting is with handguns and I am quite pleased with my PC results. My quest for PC rifle bullets is accuracy at distance at full power, so far that is an un-acheived goal with my AR's.