Complete Failure PC bullets

[armednfree]

I tried to powder coat some Lee 405 HB that I had cut the stud off. I used HF red powder. I shook that tub for 20 minute, top popped open twice, but the powder would not go into the grooves. So I picked them up by the nose and dragged them through the powder. That mostly filled the grooves, probably too much.

First bake left a good number of bare spots. Attempt to re-coat rendered a sloppy mess.

[rancher1913]

I used HF red powder.

that right there is the problem. hf powders will work but they take a lot of experience to get them to work, get one of smokes starter packs and you will enjoy powder coating instead of this.

[Flailguy]

You have shake like you're mad at them.
Hf red will work, but smoke's powders work so much better. The clear almost sticks too good.

[Grmps]

There are many variables to be considered.
relative humidity, #5 bowl, ASBB, cleanliness of the boolits ...
I have made HF red work BUT there are so many much better powders out there.

Most polyester powders with a gloss of 80% or better should work for you.

[NyFirefighter357]

I found Smokes powder much better but I burned up my HF powder by using the rubber HF dual tumbler to coat the bullets. I added a tsp or two of powder and filled the tumbler about 2/3 & tumbled for about 15 min. This works out to be the time while baking the batch before.

[armednfree]

I ordered Eastwood powder, 1 pound ford dark blue. I also ordered a Lee 340 grain mold and a .457 size die. Try it again I guess.

[armednfree]

Did you just put in powder and bullets and nothing else? No airsoft BB's or anything?

[farmerjim]

Black airsoft BB's with the powder and boolits. #5 tub Shake the tub up and down and swirl them also the up and down is important. I get full coats in 10 to 15 seconds. . If you are in a high humidity area, do all the coating in a air conditioned room.

[jcren]

I use airsoft bbs with smokes powders. Don't know if it helps good powder stick, but certainly helps with damp or old powders. After swirling for 30 seconds or so, a dozen hard up/down shakes really evens out the coverage.

[armednfree]

Somebody said two tablespoons, maybe I put in too much

[Kraschenbirn]

I tried to powder coat some Lee 405 HB that I had cut the stud off. I used HF red powder. I shook that tub for 20 minute, top popped open twice, but the powder would not go into the grooves. So I picked them up by the nose and dragged them through the powder. That mostly filled the grooves, probably too much.

First bake left a good number of bare spots. Attempt to re-coat rendered a sloppy mess.

From your description, I see two likely issues:

1) Were your boolits really clean...like totally grease/oil free? I rinse my boolits in acetone using a stainless steel pan and a wood tongue depressor to stir them. Boolits and acetone are poured onto stainless mesh screen and allowed to dry. After that, I put on a pair of clean nitrile gloves to place them in the shaker bowl with the powder and BBs...oil from bare hands will definitely cause gaps in coverage. Same thing transferring boolits from shaker to baking tray...nitrile gloves and a clean hemostat.

2) How fresh was your HF powder and how was it stored? HF isn't the best of powder for shake 'n bake and, in humid conditions, it picks up moisture from the air quite quickly if not stored in a tightly sealed container (preferably glass or metal). Once it's absorbed moisture from the atmosphere, it's pretty much toast. This is a 'been there, done that...' where I found the only way to recover moisture-contaminated powders was to spread a thin layer on cookie sheets and stick the sheets in a food dehydrator for a two or three days.


Depending upon the size of your container, two tablespoons should be about right. That's what I use to start a fresh batch in a pint food storage container with about 1/2" of clean BBs in the bottom.

Bill

[armednfree]

" 1) Were your boolits really clean"

Right out of the mold on to a clean cloth allowed to cool then coated.

" 2) How fresh was your HF powder and how was it stored?"

In the garage, just broke the seal right before using it.


Humidity is 59%

[Grmps]

I ordered Eastwood powder, 1 pound ford dark blue. I also ordered a Lee 340 grain mold and a .457 size die. Try it again I guess.

Color: Ford Dark Blue
Gloss Level: Gloss
Cure Temperature: 400 Degrees
Cure Time: 20 Minutes after flowout
Powder Type: Polyester TGIC
Finish: Smooth

You should have good luck with that, I have not tried that particular one.

check this out http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...BDT-containers

how humid is it where you are? humidity plays a part in good/bad adhesion

I have never had to "vigorously shake" while powdercoating, I do vigorously swirl to build up static to get the powder to adhere.

You'll find that some powders will adhere much better than others. Be sure to knock/sift off the excess PC before baking

also, make sure you oven setting is correct. 99% OF COUNTERTOP OVENS TEMP SETTINGS ARE OFF

[armednfree]

So it's 20 minutes after you see the powder turn liquid? I used a toaster oven. It does not have a heat setting, just a timer. One test the powder actually smoked, that was at 13 minutes.

[Walter Laich]

I bake them for 10 minutes after the temp reaches 400°F

they do fine for me

[clearcut]

Some times I'll warm up the bullets to around 100*-110* when it's cold, Smokes powder is the easiest to use, rolling the bullets around with your fingers and nitrile gloves on helps to even out the powder. I bake for 20 min. @ 400* after the powder wets out . Use a thermometer to check your oven.

CC

[Dieselhorses]

HF red- I don't have to be erratic when tumbling bullets. If you shake in a circular motion and every now and then reverse direction, shake in up and down motion occasionally and some random directions, I get good coverage on first coat. And where I am the humidity is around 80-90%. Different alloys will give different results. Harder bullets are more difficult to coat than softer bullets. Heating them up, as someone else mentioned to 100-110 degrees for a few minutes helps. I'm sure the BB's help although I've never used them. Vibrating tumblers work really good for cheap (IE HF) powders.