Power coat flaking

[Rug480]

Hey guys,

Been a minute since I’ve hit the reloading bench. Casting for my newly acquired 1895 and 1911 but hit a wall with powder coating.

HF red - 400F for 20 min and water cooled right after.

Worked before without issue, some look ok but some are flaking badly. Will melt those down and retry, curious if they didn’t have enough time to cure but 20min has worked in the past.

[Misery-Whip]

When you set the oven to 400, do you get 400? I have to set mine and preheat to the 325 mark and go for 15 minutes. And i dont water quench.

Did you degrease the boolits before coating? I dont touch my boolits from the time they fall out of the mold til they cool after being coated. This saves me the degreasing step.

How old is your paint? What about your shake container? Do suspect moisture got to the powder left inside?

How long have these boolits been cast? Were they greying or oxidizing?

On higher humidity days my results suffer.

Hope some of this helps. In my area the red and yellow are no longer available in hf stores. Maybe fresh powder will fix the issue. Good luck.

[rancher1913]

for the umpteenth time, throw the harbor freight powder in the trash and get some from smoke that works.

[OS OK]

for the umpteenth time, throw the harbor freight powder in the trash and get some from smoke that works.

heheee...how many times have I heard this?

There is a solution for those HF PC bad coatings... ...it's simple.

Set the HF PC container on top of a container of Tanerite . . . . . . back off a little ways and see just how big of a red cloud you can make!

[Conditor22]

It looks like the boolits were contaminated. Did the coating look good before you baked it?

If you water quench before coating, that's a good way to contaminate your boolits.

Soak the boolits in acetone, fish them out and dry completely on a clean towel, warm them to 150°, put some fresh powder in the bowl and try again.

OSOK, I'd like to see a video of that

[OS OK]

It looks like the boolits were contaminated. Did the coating look good before you baked it?

If you water quench before coating, that's a good way to contaminate your boolits.

Soak the boolits in acetone, fish them out and dry completely on a clean towel, warm them to 150°, put some fresh powder in the bowl and try again.

OSOK, I'd like to see a video of that

By golly Jim I would do that if I hadn't given my HF red PC away many years ago...seems that someone told me . . . "for the umpteenth time, throw the harbor freight powder in the trash and get some from smoke that works."

[popper]

Nope, HF red works fine, you just got then too hot. Alloy begins to go liquidous and PC splits and pulls away. I'd smash test a few 'good' ones to make sure PC is intact.

[cwlongshot]

Nope, HF red works fine, you just got then too hot. Alloy begins to go liquidous and PC splits and pulls away. I'd smash test a few 'good' ones to make sure PC is intact.

I agree thats what it looks Like to me as well.

HF aint great but it can work. I also suggest better powder. Smokes avalible right here on the forum is great. Eastwood Blue is a great color too.

You need to KNOW the temp. DO NOT EVER trust the dial!! What I baked my very first bullets they where much like yours only some bullets MELTED!! My 400 was over 500!!!

CW

[Jeff Michel]

Try not dumping them in water while they are still hot. Bet it works just fine if you cool them to room temperature. Adjust your hardness with alloy. FWIW I have used HF red on several thousand bullets and never had the least problem. Good luck

[edp2k]

Yes, I agree with some of the previous posts that say that the bullets had some kind of contamination on them (oil, grease, etc.).
Boil the bullets in water with a tablespoon of dawn or laundry detergent in it, and a 1/2 teaspoon of lemishine/citric-acid to clean and etch the surface.

[Conditor22]

You can confirm if it was too hot by putting a thermometer in the oven and seeing how hot it really is. I have questions about it being too hot, I've seen melted and partially melted PC's boolits that didn't peel like that.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I have handled my bullets , seen specks and spots of mold lube on towels they drop on and have not had a problem , but it does look like contamination is the cause , were these new bullets fresh cast and was there a possible contamination source? Or was your oven a lot hotter then 400 ? I would like to know if you figure the cause out.

[Rug480]

Thanks for all the tips gents

I always wash my hands and dry them with clean paper towels before handling my reloading equipment but these were water quenched from casting, then again after powder coating. Contamination can certainly be the cause.

They looked perfectly fine right out of the oven before tossing them into the water bucket but I noticed this batch is grainier in texture that past coatings (same powder container). I also toss the chicken wire mesh basket I made with bullets into the bucket together so I think this is causing the paint to rip off the bullet. I noticed pieces of paint sticking onto the mesh.

Smacked one of the good ones real hard, PC stayed put.

I will try again with a thermometer to get a clear reading on the temp. I’ll also flip the mesh over without tossing it in, tap those boolits off instead. I think it could be the combo of too high a temp and the mesh ripping paint off.

I’ll follow up with results (but am also going to get me some clear coat too, either Smoke or Eastwood)

[odfairfaxsub]

Harbor freight powder works.....try degreasing them, fully drying them, handling them w gloves, and prewarming your bullets around just hot enough to touch and drop them in powder and tumble. You’ll be fine next time doing this


Here you go, a bud of mine had the same problem as you, turns out he sprayed his bullets w one shot and didn’t get it all off before coating

[Conditor22]

Quenching before PCing does little for hardness and is a common cause of contamination. I'm 99% sure you contaminated the boolits

I've used wire mesh and that didn't cause a problem. PC that has been applied to a clean surface and baked according to factory specifications [in a PRE-HEATED OVEN THAT THE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN CHECKED/VERIFIED] XX minutes at XXX° AFTER (1) the alloy has reached XXX° or (2) the PC starts to flow. both of these work out to baking at 400° for between 23 and 25 min to achieve a full cure. if not, you could get this

Results from a test performed by TATV

[Rug480]

You guys called it, temp waaaay too hot, 500F

So I got the acetone, gloves, thermometer and they came out much nicer. Still going to get some quality powder but am satisfied I could resolve this one.

Will make loading for these hammers much more enjoyable

[Mica_Hiebert]

You melted your lead. Your oven is way too hot. Had this happen to me first time I tried.

[Tripplebeards]

You melted your lead. Your oven is way too hot. Had this happen to me first time I tried.

Agree, had the same first time experience... Then I switched smokes powder.

[cas]

...and water cooled right after.

One highly scientific opinion.... When I read this, I thought of how I make hard boiled eggs. Take them out of the cooker and put them in cold water, because it makes the peel easy.

[Rug480]

Tried again with even better resultts

Acetone bath, let dry
Tumbled in number 5 tub
400 for 20-25, let rest for a few minutes (Cas had me thinking..) before quenching in the water bucket

No flaking whatsoever, hardly any sticking at all, very happy.

Keeping the HF red but will pick up some Eastwood lime green, try to make some zombie pills! Thanks again for all the tips