First time trying Hi-Tek and was sort of disappointed. Came out looking good, would not wipe off with acetone but both bullets with 3 coats or 2 coats would flake when smashed. trying to figure out what went wrong.
|
   
   
|
|
First time trying Hi-Tek and was sort of disappointed. Came out looking good, would not wipe off with acetone but both bullets with 3 coats or 2 coats would flake when smashed. trying to figure out what went wrong.
Last edited by Boolit_Head; 11-03-2018 at 10:20 PM.
On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823
Possibly too thick of coats or over cooked. Thinner coats work best.
I wondered about that. The second batch had a touch more acetone. Only cooked the first batch for 6 minutes then shook then 6 minutes more. Second was 7 min then shake then 7 minutes. Both of those were starting from a cold oven so some of that was spent getting up to temp.
On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823
How did you dry the first coat? This is the most important step.
I mix 125/20 for the first coat and always have the oven up to temp before baking the bullets. You can not over bake the Hi-Tek and 2 to 3 heavy coats will cause flaking when smashed but might not cause any problems when shooting depending on the barrel throat.
I would guess you boolits are all undercooked --Oven must be at temp 400° before inserting boolits
You don't need 3 coats unless you're into looks. 1 coat will protect, 2 coats is standard.
HiTek is a stain, the lead needs to be clean and unsized when applying HiTek or it won't stick right.
the solution must be allowed to sit for 30 min (for proper chemical reaction) before applying to the boolits
the solution must be agitated immediately before measuring and applying to the boolits
1st coat less than 1 mil per pound of boolits
confirm oven temp with a secondary thermometer
prewarm boolits on top of oven AFTER they are 100% dry
DO NOT tumble to long (if the sound starts to change youve gone to long. OK to dump wet
use fan to help dry boolits
put heat retaining media on the bottom of the oven to help oven get back to temp faster (I use ceramic BBQ briquettes, others use firebrick or ?) Every time you open the oven you lose most of the heat)
What oven are you using? Is it a convection oven?
Grmps, Yes it's a convection oven. I'll have to look into the ceramic retaining media.
ioon44, Bullets were set outside in the sun until dry to the touch. I don't get your mixing. This was powder so it's mixed 20 grams to 100 ml. I've been using this oven for powder coat and went through the temps. I don't believe my thermometer or oven control because if I turn it up the slightest the bullets can get soft and slump when standing. It is very close to 400 if not right at.
On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.
Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823
Hi-Tek is good and fast. There is a steeper learning curve than PC. All of the things that usually go wrong have been mentioned. The thing I have seen most often is too thick of a first coat. Don't give up, I messed it up a few times before I got it down.
There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide. Ayn Rand
Once you get HiTek down, it's actually pretty easy
He mixed the HiTek powder mixed 20 grams to 120 ml to get a thinner solution (often used in summer for slower drying, you can substitute 2% denatured alcohol for the same result)
I usually got 10 gr HiTek powder to 55mil acetone .
Might be too many bullets in the oven at once. I made that mistake once trying to do 4kg at a time. 2.5kg works for me.
They can also be dry to touch but wet under the outside coating. 10 minutes on top of the oven while its warming up helps that.
Get the first coat sorted before applying anymore. 2nd coats wont work on bad first coats.
Good luck.
Don't get discouraged, once you get your head around the process it's pretty simple really. There are only couple of basic rules that need to be followed -
a thin first coat, a thick coat will cause problems (I had to remelt a whole batch when I accidentally did this).
ensure the first coat is dry before baking, leave in the sun so they feel hot to the touch or sit on top of hot oven for a while
preheat oven, it must be at baking temp before putting them in
fairly accurate temp control on oven.
That's pretty well it. I do about 2 kg at a time, which suits my (non-convection) oven and I'm a bit of a rebel 'cos I don't measure out the coating when I apply it, I just give a squirt into the swirl bucket! Works for me (most of the time).
Last edited by dikman; 11-04-2018 at 06:23 PM.
I should have been clearer on my mix 20 grams to 125 ml acetone for a first coat.Originally Posted by Boolit_Head
I like to set my coated bullets in the sun to dry and when they are hot to touch they are around 130 to 140 deg F this only takes 30 min to dry.
In colder cloudy wet weather I have a cabinet with a small heater with a fan blowing into the cabinet, this will bring the bullet temp up to 130 deg F in 30 min.
The thermostat on my convection oven likes to stick and some times it will get well over 400 deg F. I use a digital thermometer with a K type sensor under my bullet tray very accurate.
There's no need to shake bullets during baking. That will also drop the temp big time.
Put them in a hot oven,let bake,take out. Take notes, big bullets need a longer time. Pay attention to the first acetone test,wipe them vigorously for full 30 seconds.
Try with small batches first to find a good bake time. If it fails acetone test,bake some more to find out how long you need in your oven.
The first coat is everything.
You are not baking long enough to cure the coating. 10-11min. preheated oven does it for me. Smash em flat as you can & the coating sticks.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
You MUST per-heat the oven BEFORE inserting the tray of bullets for baking.
It isn't rocket science!
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Australia
Posting Permissions
| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
Reply With Quote