Problems with powder adhesion.

[boogalou]

I'm using Smoke's Jet Black for my first powdercoating test of 9mm bullets and My first batch I had to run two coats to get complete coverage. Bullets were sized to .357 with the NOE sizing dies and came out great. I assumed I hadn't used enough powder on the first batch so used a slightly heaping teaspoon for the second batch with black BB's in a ziplock twist-lock container and poured in 100 9mm bullets. I'm still not getting good coverage so I'm thinking a few things I should change.

Preheat bullets before shake n bake?
Try doing 50 to 75 bullets at a time?
Add more bb's?

I shake the container per Smoke's instruction but when I remove the cap the bullets just aren't completely covered. Additional shaking doesn't make any difference. Do the bb's need to be cleaned before each application?

Is there something I'm missing?

[Smoke4320]

Try less bullets . If you take the lid off and see not enough powder shake again and HARDER . Don't be gentle.
BBS do not need cleaning between batches. I have many colors with bbs in them that are 4 years old and still do well
If you heat the bullets ( should not be necessary if you have clean, dry bullets) do NOT go over 140 degrees more is NOT better here you will end up with a big glob of struck together bullets

[Flailguy]

Shake them like you hate them!

[Eddie17]

Like smoke said. Less boolits an more shaking. I will shake a handful of boolits for 2 minutes or less an get great results.

[frankmako]

Less bullets and shake hard and long. Have clean bullets.

[rancher1913]

most times I only do about 20 at a time, and if you see powder in the bottom you got plenty, would not advise heating your boolits, to many things can go wrong. the swirling hard is what builds the static charge.

[Gtrubicon]

Shake n bake!

[owejia]

Haven't tried the jet black, but with clear, purple, red, blue, pink and yellow I use enough plastic bbs to cover the bottom of my container and usually coat three handfuls of bullets at a time. In my area the humidity is always high. I swirl in a circular motion while counting to 25 then flip the container over and continue to swirl to another count of 25. I then flip the container over a couple of times and shake up and down vigorously to another count of 25 and have always had good coverage with good paint powder. If the boolits are not covered good will add small amount of powder and swirl and shake again, until the results are what I want. My count is like the hand grenade count .Works even when it is raining. After a few times can judge really close the amount of powder to add for each shake and bake. After a little experimenting you will get a system worked out that works for you. I always use at least three handfuls of different size bullets even though the count may vary.

[djgoings]

What is the humidity like in your state? Humidity is not your friend when shake_n_baking.

[boogalou]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I will use less bullets and shake more vigorously. Concerning humidity, I live in Michigan so it's not to bad. I plan on doing all my shaking in my basement and then move the bullets into the oven in the attached garage.

[fredj338]

I am shaking for about 30sec with good powders like Smokes. HF red needs almost a minute & even then its splotchy. When you bake them though, it seems to even out & cover completely. Unless your bowl is pretty good size, try less bullets.

[mattw]

I have numerous colors, many will not stick most times of the year here in Illinois. Most take 2 coats, one exception... dark red mixed with white. Neither does well on it's own, but mixed 1:1 it works great. My kid and I shake the crap out of them and still does not stick well. They are dropped from the mould, culled and coated the same day. They get touched during sorting, but only for 15 to 20 seconds each at most, quick roll down the finger to inspect all parts.

[Huskerguy]

Over time I am developing my own unique method based on what most of you are already doing.

I am using flame red, signal blue, Traffic Orange for a friend and recently clear, all from Smoke.

For containers I use a Glad # 5 with a screw top lid. I hope that keeps me from having an accident some day. I use a different one for each color and the bottom is covered with BB's. The only downside to these containers is I wish they were wider and not as deep so I can put in the same number of bullets, a couple of big handfuls, and have them more spread out instead of being stacked.

I first shake and turn upside down to get the powder working through the bullets up and down, only takes a few seconds. Then I start swirling and when I do this I let the container spin in my hand while I wear nitril gloves. I count to 30 slowly in my little head. Then I flip it over and do the same and often put my hand flat on the container to create more static. What I "think" I am doing is creating more static electricity from the outside similar to rubbing a balloon on your head.

Lastly I shake the container up and down to get most of the powder off and allow it migrate down into the container. I have tried both straining the powder and grabbing bullets directly from the container and tapping a couple times to shake off excess. Either works OK. I do wear a mask as there is a steady flow of paint powder in the air you cannot easily see.

The red and orange do not cover the best. In fact, I would not recommend to my friend that he get orange again. With the red I notice it can "have it's days" when it sticks better than others. Last night was one of those, at first it wasn't cooperating but I kept at it and I figure I built up some static as I went along. There are marks where they bump into each other so there is a benefit to smaller loads. However, once they are baked - I do 400 preheated followed by 15 minutes of baking time - they flow out very nicely and I can not see those bare spots.

Powder paint is just like automotive paint in that different colors require different pigments that allow for differing reactions to application, curing and coverage. So what works for one might not always work for another. Not all colors are the same. When I painted and taught auto collision you could pour some colors on while others you needed to apply more lighter coats - it just depends on the pigments added to the base.

As to the original OP - fewer bullets, wider but shallower container, create some static with your hand rubbing the container and see how that goes. I tried the pre-heating once with HF Red and I ended up with a nice piece of art work.

[Conditor22]

How old are your boolits and could they be contaminated. (quenching boolits is an easy way to contaminate them) plus powder coating will take all the hardness you gain from quenching out of the boolit. You can gain most of it back by quenching after you powdercoat


I have never found any benefit from shaking my bowl. I swirl the bowl for 15 - 20 seconds changing from flat to horizontal.

If you have an empty cool whip container they work really well (make sure to hold the lid securely )

In larger containers, I go 1 layer BB's and 2 layers boolits.

You could try swirling the 100 boolits the object of swirling is to generate static. IF you have too many boolits in the container that prevents you from generating static -- you have a problem. 100 might work in a cool whip container.

Some powders just work better/quicker than others (smokes included -- all his powders will work except the flat black and he has a disclaimer on that one)

I grip those twist top container by the top and swirl them at my side, you can continue swirling and slowly rotate the container until it's upside down (to get good powder dispersion) then back to right side up.

You mentioned warming the boolits -- keep them under 150°, no warmer than you can touch bare-handed. this helps dry the boolit and being warm helps with adhesion.

Make sure your hands are free of oils/dampness or wear surgical gloves when you touch the uncoated boolits.

Everyone has their favorite way of ASBBDTing you have to find what works for you

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I swirl my boolits in the same counter clockwise direction for sixty seconds. Works very well.

[Dapaki]

WOW! I had the very same issue with Smokes Jet Black two days ago. Fresh cast, clean, no oily fingerprints, ambient air temp was 85 F but it was very humid. Boolits came out bare, no spots of black, nothing would stick. I am simply waiting for a dry day and will try again.

I also don't shake them, I swirl them in an old ice cream bucket, it has worked very well.... almost.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

I've seen a guy in a video use silicone spray. It worked for him.

I bought three powders from powder by the pound. A red, green and super durable wet black. The black works awesome, the others are bad. Instead of trying a bunch of different things using the better powder gave me the least amount of grief.

https://www.powderbuythepound.com/su...wet-black.html

[tomme boy]

silicone spray????

For what? That is a good way for the powder to never stick and contaminate your powder.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

silicone spray????

For what? That is a good way for the powder to never stick and contaminate your powder.

https://youtu.be/Tf5C7x27Gmg

Worked for this guy. Powder stuck and baked on very well.

[tomme boy]

I was a certified Dupont and PPG paint instructor. You do not want any silicone spray anywhere near any type of coating operation. You even mention silicone near a body shop you would get you rear end thrown out. It contaminates the paint and prevents adhesion. All of his bullets had big blobs of coating on them.

NO THANKS