HBN for Cast Boolits?

[Circuit Rider]

Maybe a dumb question for coating cast boolits, since I,ve only read a little about HBN. I presume it could be done, but would it be practical? CR

[marky123]

I tried using hbn/auto lacquer as a coating and it was terrible.
I think most of the hbn blasted out before the boolit as it smoked and leaded like hell,so I went back to PC.Also,interestingly,if you add a bit of HBN to PC and try and ASBB coat,the HBN interferes with the static charge and you dont get a good coating.
MARK

[Dieselhorses]

Stick with lube or powder coat, this is definitely not a "wheel" anyone wants to "re-invent". Even the "hi-tek" coating which many use can be a headache. Powder coating is simple as shake and bake.

[Circuit Rider]

Marky123,Dieselhorses, Thanks for the replies. Won't get near it . CR

[Dragonheart]

HBN works on gun barrels, but the stuff is so fine it can go into the pores of your skin so it is not the safest thing to handle. I did tumble some mold blocks with HBN and black BB's, one block at a time in a completely sealed plastic container. After the process the bullets would just jump out of the mold.

[Big Boomer]

Evidently my education has been sadly neglected. What is HBN? Big Boomer

Never mind … hexagonal boron nitride. 'Puter search sure is convenient and educational.

[David2011]

HBN works on gun barrels, but the stuff is so fine it can go into the pores of your skin so it is not the safest thing to handle. I did tumble some mold blocks with HBN and black BB's, one block at a time in a completely sealed plastic container. After the process the bullets would just jump out of the mold.

Could you give some more details or is it like tumbling boolits in powder coat? Do you know of a retailer that will sell a single can? Thanks!

[jaysouth]

I mix HBN with kroil to coat the cavities of molds as a release agent. Get the mold absolutely clean, get it hot, apply mix with a Q-tip and reheat. Two or three coats and nothing will stick the cavity. It treats the metal without changing the dimensions of the mold like spray on mold release.

[Dragonheart]

Could you give some more details or is it like tumbling boolits in powder coat? Do you know of a retailer that will sell a single can? Thanks!

I purchased the HBN from a chemical supplier in Canada several years ago, sorry I don't remember the supplier. As I remember it was over $100 delivered, so that will turn off a lot potential buyers. The HBN does come in grades and is refereed to as white graphite, but it is much a finer ceramic an extremely slick. It was used by the military to coat cannon barrels to reduce friction which greatly extends the life of the barrels. Coating high velocity gun barrels is the main use for shooters and that was my original intention in purchasing the HBN.

But I had a mold that didn't drop the bullets well so I first tried HBN by tumbling the mold blocks in a completely sealed plastic container with the HBN and plastic BB's. That did work well as a release for the bullets.

I then decided handling the powder even wearing a respirator and rubber gloves was more risk than I wanted to take, so I combined HBN with Kroil Oil, so the HBN would not be as prone to getting airborne. I painted a coat of the HBN paste into the bullet cavities of hot molds and repeated the process several times. My assumption was the Kroil would act as a carrier of the HBN into to expanded pores of the hot cast iron mold blocks. The process definitely worked and I made a post of the process back then. However, I since decided most would not take any safety precautions at all in handling the HBN and would not recommend the process as it is definitely not like handling graphite.

[David2011]

Mixing Kroil and HBN sounds like a great solution. I've found sources on Amazon for small quantities of dry HBN. I would love to cure some sticky molds. Nothing else has been fully successful.

I don't think you are wrong to be concerned about airborne HBN. My brother was in the hospital near death early last year. What started out as treatment for an infection in a toe was exacerbated by a reaction to meds that blistered his lungs causing near fatal chemical pneumonia. (Fortunately he is off of oxygen and breathing well enough to live now.) The doctors performed a rather unpleasant sounding procedure when they picked up samples of stuff in his lungs with a brush. He has been an aircraft mechanic on light planes for about 40 years plus doing a lot of custom fiberglass work on sportfishers and other large boats. The doctors wanted to know what he had been doing all his life. They found steel/iron, aluminum, zinc, titanium, several varieties of paint, plastics, glass and more that I can't remember. The lost was staggering. Amazingly, no asbestos even though he worked in an auto parts store where brake shoes were ground to fit drums back in the '70s. The titanium was probably titanium oxide paint pigment. Everything else was no doubt from sanding and grinding without a respirator.

[Dragonheart]

Construction workers have go to be about the worst about taking safety precautions; I know as I was the project manager on many high rise building job-sites employing hundreds of workers in numerous trades. Also being a Certified Lead Risk Assessor and Asbestos Inspector I was well aware of hazards that you can't see. I had several key expressions like, "Just because you can't see it doesen't mean it can't do you harm" and "Just because you breath out doesn't mean what you breathed in is gone!". Fortunately, most with a little education on the subjects will take precautions seriously, but there are always those that think safety is a joke.
If you decide to get some HBN handle it carefully and with proper protection. It obviously is safer in a solution.