Hardware cloth for powder coated boolit baking

[Shuz]

I have found that "hardware cloth" or some call it screen cloth, of about 1/4" squares works great for powder coating. I just pour the coated boolits onto the cloth that rests inside the oven tray and bake. When baking is done, I remove the tray, let the boolits cool, and just flex the cloth a little and the boolits come right off. I was surprised to find that the places on the boolits that contacted the screen cloth were still powder coated. I find this is a lot easier than standing the boolits up in a mini-ice cube silicone mat, and there is no build up of powder on the cloth to worry about. The cloth just gets powder coated over time.

[dangitgriff]

That’s a clever hack, thanks for sharing it.
R/Griff

[shell70634]

I use the same method and I get good coating with it. Except, I just coated some 62 gr 225 boolits and have quite a few bare spots. To many to shoot as is. I used a tray line with non-stick foil and it was better but still not good enough. I'm going to try re-coating and use a new piece of hardware cloth and another batch with a fresh piece of non-stick. I sure don't want to stand up these little boolits.
Shelly

[Misery-Whip]

I stand them up on a thin woven, silicone, copper grilling mat. (Was a Christmas gift last year) One of those "seen on tv things"I was NEVER going to eat off of. Turns out i can stand 100ish 225-55-sp on there and walk across a cluttered shop to a preheated oven, with 1 or 2 falling over.

Now 30 cal 180-200 gr all bets are off. If I checked them first i might have better luck.

[B R Shooter]

I use 1/2" "rat wire", I cut it to fit in my baking pan, with a 1'2" turn down on all 4 sides. This stands up 1/2", and I stand rifle bullets in the squares, on a teflon sheet. Keeps them from falling over getting them into the cooker.

[shell70634]

I recoated my boolits, put fresh non-stick foil over hardware cloth, and baked in a full size oven this time. Dumped em in a sink full of water and they came out great.

[Conditor22]

stainless surgical sterilization trays work great (But are expensive) I found these in a thrift store ) a couple $ each


Same time I found this oven for $15

[jamesp81]

I have found that "hardware cloth" or some call it screen cloth, of about 1/4" squares works great for powder coating. I just pour the coated boolits onto the cloth that rests inside the oven tray and bake. When baking is done, I remove the tray, let the boolits cool, and just flex the cloth a little and the boolits come right off. I was surprised to find that the places on the boolits that contacted the screen cloth were still powder coated. I find this is a lot easier than standing the boolits up in a mini-ice cube silicone mat, and there is no build up of powder on the cloth to worry about. The cloth just gets powder coated over time.

Where did you get yours?

[Conditor22]

shell70634 some powders work better with the dump on a tray and bake method. regardless of the powder, you MUST get rid of ALL the excess PC to get good results.

I've got powder where you can pile the boolits in a heap and they never stick, I also have powders that stick to each other like crazy IF the boolits are touching eachother.

[rockshooter]

as to source- I just bought a roll of 1/4" hardware cloth and formed them to size using a metal ruler. I make the sides about 1/2" high to contain the layer of coated bullets. The excess PC does tend to build up but I just turn the trays over on a padded tray and smack the bottom with a wooden spoon. The stuck bullets just pop off. Certainly much easier method than standing bullets up one at a time!
Loren