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Thread: BBs needed? Prismatic Powder. First time PC'ing

  1. #21
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    There are plenty of folks here with more experience but here is my two cents:
    About BB's ... I never used them HOWEVER, I got me some black pony beads that seem to be made of the same stuff. THEY HELP when getting borderline coverage.
    Humidity...THIS IS IT. Humidity is the absolute most important factor in shake style powder coating.
    I live in Wisconsin. In the summer it is commonly 100% humidity for weeks on end. In the Winter when it is like -25° F, the humidity is pretty much zero. I started with HF powder. Summer took two to three coats just to get a thin layer. Winter the bullets looked like bees full of pollen. All puffy and thick coat of powder. You would think that these were two completely different systems. But ...just the humidity. I have tried to get humidity down in the summer with just slight results. Doing it in an A/C place helps.
    I put desiccant packs in my powder. Don't know how much it helps. Preheating the bullets a bit before swirling sometimes helps a bit also.
    It takes experimentation. Good thing about bullets is it is easy to melt em and try again.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
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    I use #5 container with black BBs works just fine . An if it doesn't it is all you guys fault because this is were I learned the process!!

  3. #23
    Boolit Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale View Post
    ive don't it with and without in a shedds spread container and in my tumbler and didn't see where the bbs did a thing.
    I knew you were from Michigan without looking at your bio - I don't think Shedd's is known anywhere outside The Mitten. The original company started in Detroit, but wound up selling to Unilever in the '80s. Somewhere (probably in small print) Country Crock margarine may still mention Shedd's...

    Anyway, on topic: I am planning to start coating by following Smoke's formula: a #5 container and black Airsoft BBs, along with Smoke's powder. It's a proven technique that's simple and inexpensive to employ.

    The way I see it, the #5 plastic, polypropylene, and the specific plastic in black BBs (usually ABS), interact to create a particular level of surface charge - the same kind of charge that exists in your powder measure's reservoir. It's truly static; you don't get shocks from it, but the charge can be transferred by contact with other objects that are charged. Since powder coat paint is designed to stick by static attraction (although the sprayed PC form of static is what you'd call "differential charge" static), the powder shouldn't care.

    Now this is all theory on my part. I'm not a polymer chemist, I'm an OT. But 20+ years as an electronic technician and instructor in the USAF gave me a pretty strong understanding of static and dynamic electrical interactions, particularly when static is an issue, as with fancy Electrostatic Sensitive Devices. And I'm still waiting until Central Texas lets me be outdoors for long enough to cast my bullets, so I can then coat them. But my bottom line is that there are technical and practical reasons (for me) to start out with Smoke's process, and I'm going to dig into that as soon as I can.

  4. #24
    Boolit Master
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    A wise decision to go with Smoke's powder and anything that will increase the static charge, but there is more going on in this process than just the static charge.

    Back in 2012 when an old gun club member first showed me the "Cool Whip Shake" as he called it, (he only used powder & bullets) I was amazed that this worked. Then I remembered somewhere back in my college days that Lead is a unique metal having the property to accept an electrical charge and the reason it is used in batteries. I would have never guessed that the friction of the two together would generate enough of a charge, but I am sure glad someone did.

  5. #25
    Boolit Man
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    Excellent point. Lead’s outermost electron shell has only 4 electrons; it could hold more, which is probably why it can easily accept a charge.

    It’s pretty amazing how complex such simple things as “shake your bullets in a plastic bowl with PC paint” can actually be.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master
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    What is even more amazing is how the PC process has revolutionized bullet casting, revived a dying process and brought casting into the new century. PC is the first real change in several hundred years.

  7. #27
    Boolit Man
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonheart View Post
    What is even more amazing is how the PC process has revolutionized bullet casting, revived a dying process and brought casting into the new century. PC is the first real change in several hundred years.
    I'll say without hesitation that PC is why I decided to get into casting. Too many details about this lube and that lube machine and how lube still didn't prevent leading... But powder coating is pretty simple, "one-coating-fits-all", and usually prevents any hint of leading. That just sold me.

  8. #28
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    OTShooter you and me both .. Tried casting many years ago. Found out real quick Lubing was a sicence I had not time or money for
    PC got me started again ..
    [SIZE=4][B]Selling Hi Quality Powdercoating Powder

    I carry a Nuke50 because cleaning up the mess is Silly !!

    http://www.bing.com/search?q=nuke50&...7ADE&FORM=QBLH

    I am not crazy my mom had me tested

    Theres a fine line between genius and crazy .. I'm that line
    and depending on the day I might just step over that line !!!

  9. #29
    Boolit Master
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    I absolutely would not be here if it were not for powder coating. I gave up on greased bullets almost 50 years ago. They were OK when I was a kid and it was cast & lube or not shoot at all, but once I was gainfully employed I had no desire to continue.

  10. #30
    Boolit Master
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    Powdercoating is the only way I have to make magnum speed boolits. I used to use Alox and mica powder, but very few in full bore magnum loads. Those got jacketed. I don't own a lubesizer. I started with, and will stay with, smokes powder and his method. It has worked from day one in all types of weather.

  11. #31
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    I said it before and I will continue to say it FOR THE NOOBS OUT THERE:
    It is all about H U M I D I T Y. Dry air= GOOD. Humid air = BAD. We are dealing with static electricity here. The static causes the powder to CLING to the bullets. Humidity kills static.
    With that said, because nearly all of us must deal with some humidity from time to time AT LEAST, The little things like airsoft BB's, heating the bullets a bit before shake and bake, magic incantations, and yada yada, can have a slight effect on the outcome.
    PERSONALLY, I have resorted to just doing multiple coats when it is humid here in central Wisconsin (All summer). Multiple coats give a nicer, even coat anyway.

  12. #32
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    "I said it before and I will continue to say it FOR THE NOOBS OUT THERE"

    to add to your statement, if you are ASBBPC coating, it is less humid than outdoors. I have ASBBPC coated in my kitchen and cooked in my garage with the door open in the pouring rain with great success. If you make a mess while ASBBPC coating in the kitchen, you will be sleeping in high humidity, in the dog house outside, while it is raining.
    Common sense Gun Safety . . .

    Is taught at the Range!

  13. #33
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    I haven't used prismatic powders but here's a trick that works great for me. A short section of 6 inch PVC pipe, some styrofoam packing Peanuts and two plastic #5 tubs. Put powder and bullets in the tubs and cover with the lids. Plug the each end of the PVC pipe with the tubs containing bullets and powder and put a handful of the packing peanuts into the pipe first. Shake and roll for about 10 seconds then dump each tub into an aluminum pie plate. Use cheap nitrile gloves to pick bullets up and stand them in whatever you use to cook them. Make sure your bullets are clean first, use alcohol or acetone before coating. Works like a charm with the Easwood or Harbor freight powders I use.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

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