Questions about PC problems

[Bazoo]

I am gearing up to give PCing a try for the first time. A member here sent me a PC starter kit that included a tupperware bowl and bbs, and powder. Well, not knowing any better, I swapped that baggy of powder which was red, for a bag of black, out of the swap box that was going around a few years back. I just would rather have black. I didn't think that perhaps the black was unknown, at least to me, and the red this gent sent me was known good.

I've read you should start with known good powder, such as eastwood ford blue. My question is... what are the signs that my powder is the issue if I have problems starting out?

I plan to follow the MP guide -molds.com/tipstricks/powder-coating-lead-bullets-dry-tumble-dt-method/

I've heard that you have problems if its humid, well, it's humid as crap here this time of year. Normally its cooler in the evenings and morning. So.....if I just wait until the evening on a less humid day, is that sufficiently not humid enough or do I need to just plan to wait til winter? Is there any powders that are not subject to humidity concerns?

Thanks for the tips.

[deces]

If the boolits are static charged from shaking in your tub, they will develop a velvet like coating, then you are doing it right. I've never done much prep before tossing them in the tub straight out of the mold, except washing away alox with solvents.

[Recycled bullet]

Check and make sure that your plastic bin that you're swirling the bullets together with the powder has the triangle with the number five somewhere on it. Just swirl and swirl and swirl the bullets make laps inside generating static electricity, building coverage.

It's done correctly when the bullets have a fuzzy matte appearance. The absolute easiest powder is ultimate gloss clear. It sticks as a flat white powder. As soon as you bake it it flashes goes clear and is least likely to leave marks from touching other bullets or from whatever container it is that you're baking them in.

My recommendation is to use a very clean Tupperware with the triangle number 5, add your bullets, use a small very clean spoon and add powder then swirl for 30 seconds then let it settle and check it. If you are doing pistol bullets just keep adding powder and shaking until there's a small amount of excess collects on the bottom. This is when the bullets are saturated and cannot physically grab any more powder. You're going to learn how much powder approximately is going to be needed for whatever batch of whatever bullets you're using.


With the oven preheated to 400° verified on a separate thermometer, lay down a sheet of newspaper with your hardware cloth basket quarter inch squares on top of the paper. Dump the bullets onto your tray then use something clean to spread them out one layer deep.

Place them in the oven remove them after 20 or 30 minutes it's going to depend on how heavy your bullets are how many bullets you put in the box how much power your oven has etc.

At the end of the prescribed cooking time put on your leather gloves pick up the box of bullets and dump them out into a clean cardboard box and separate the bullets as they are cooling so that they do not stick together.

[Recycled bullet]

The newspaper so you do not leave a mess of powder coat powder on your workbench or countertop.

[SoonerEd]

I have found swirling them quickly is important as I think that imparts static into it. At first I tried shaking and that didn't work...When I started swirling vigorously, things got better. I then shake at the end to knock off some of the excess powder. As mentioned above make sure you have a triangle with 5 in it. I use sour cream tubs from Sam's and they work well. The sides are straight and almost 90 degrees from the bottom making it easy to swirl. I'm in Mississippi with high humity and don't seem to have issues. I have found I need to keep the powder coat dry. I double bag with a moisture absorbent in the bag.

[Cast10]

It’s always humid here. I don’t pc in the heat. My shop is A/C so it doesn’t matter much. Keep bag sealed after you add a few spoonfuls to the #5 container, with black bb’s. I have pc’d without the A/C in cooler weather, no issues.
Read Smoke’s method and use it. I have been using his instructions since day 1. He has stated to cook a bit longer, 30 minutes, as what I’ve been doing for every batch. Some colors don’t coat as well as others, so remember that. I can attest to Smoke’s Aluminum White and Carolina Blue being ‘boolit proof’. Other colors that you run into that don’t coat as well, can be mixed with some others to improve the coverage.
The statement about the ‘velvet’ looking texture is spot on. It will melt smoooooth.

NOTE; Use nitrile gloves from the time your boolits are cast and placed in clean containers, until you get through baking/sizing. Any oils from you hands will affect the coverage. It in doubt, soak fresh boolits in acetone for 20 min, drain, let dry, PC.

Good luck.

[deltaenterprizes]

I have a piece of nylon carpet on my bench and I rub the plastic container on it to increase the static electricity. It seems to help.

[Bazoo]

I appreciate all the responses. There isn't any way for me to coat them in the AC unfortunately. I expect there to be a smell, so doing it in the house is no go. I have been keeping the power inside though. I'll aim for a cooler evening.

My bullets have been fondled some. But not excessively. I have some that's set sorta open in the corner a while, that I want to try to salvage, those i'll need to rinse I suspect, due to oil mist. But the others I want to coat have been in a flat rate box and are clean.

[cwlongshot]

Hello Bazoo. Welcome to
Powder coating!

Many here have mastered it and many more dabble at it! Its not difficult its simply the unknown.

I have made a few Videos on my methods.
They mimic many here and its what works and continues to work for me. Humidity surely plays a part as static is the needed ingredient. But I have powder coating in rain storms (indoors of coarse) with out issue. BB's can help but are not always required. #5 bowls I guess help some but I haven't seen a need.

As mentioned swirl more then shake. As contact between bullets and container create the static.
One huge helper is heat. I warm my bullets atop my oven in wire baskets before swirling. This does two things. Heate dissipates moisture and helps coating. But WARM not HOT! If you cannot hold in your hand, bullets are too hot.
About touching bullets. Avoid all un nesessary contact. Some of us have alot of oils in our hands we all have some. That oil can defeat the powder coat and cause you problems with coating evenly.

Last tip, dont use TOO MUCH powder!! How do you know? Well if there is a little left in your container after coating thats OK. If you have allot you may well be limiting ability to achieve a good coating. If not coated well, and none left over, add powder & swirl more.

One last tip, you know this as you mentioned already. Use KNOWN good powders! I Like SMOKES! Eastwood has proven good but know colors can change things and not all Colors work as well as each other.

Here is one video I made on my methods I hope they help you.

https://youtu.be/vzSMkpf5SCY

CW

[charlie b]

Like CW I shake and tumble the container. After two minutes of that I will do a small swirl to get most of the powder to settle down. I find I have to use a lot more powder in my container than others. There is usually a level tablespoon or so left in the bottom. If I don't have the extra the bullets are not covered as well. I'm in very low humidity and have trouble with static around everything, so it isn't the lack of charge.

Yes, all powders are not equal, even from the same mfg. If you want easy, then Eastwood Ford Light Blue is king for me. But, Smoke's clear is almost as easy. I've tried some others and they work OK, just not as even a coat for me as those two.

[Bazoo]

I appreciate the replies. I don't care for blue, so I'm reluctant to try ford light blue. But Smokes clear is intriguing. Thanks all.

[414gates]

Black is the color everyone has problems with.

Red seems to be universally good.

People report good results with a light color.

[charlie b]

What you might do is email Smoke and ask him. He's had more experience with the different colors he sells so can steer you in the right direction.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...owder-For-sale

PS as someone else stated, I've mixed the light blue with other colors and had good results as well. Left is blue and red, right is clear.

[Recycled bullet]

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...coated-bullets

This may be of assistance Bazoo.

[reedap1]

Welcome to the addictive world of powder coating. It has been a game-changer for me. My pointers based on 5 years of experience coating rifle and pistol bullets:

• Avoid black colors even though you like them. I have yet to find one that will coat without fussing around.
• Smokes Super Durable Clear and Traffic Purple are foolproof, start with those and make sure to store them in a sealed container with desiccant
• Too much powder is bad and will give you problems. Add powder sparingly to your container as you shake/swirl until they have that "velvet" coating
• Warm the clean bullets before coating. I use a shop hair dryer to take them up to about 140 degrees before coating, too hot and you will have a clumping mess
• Make sure your oven is truly hitting 400 degrees verified with an independent thermometer
• I pull them out of the oven and drop the whole screen basket into cool water for additional hardness
• I size them with a few drops of Ballistol and MICROLUBROL 1 oz Hexagonal Boron Nitride hBN Powder Ultra FINE 0.5 µ Micron available on Amazon. That stuff is truly amazing as a powdered lube. I "rinse" them with a few sprays of rubbing alcohol and dry them before storage.


Good luck, this forum is where you will find ALL your answers.

Paul

[reddog81]

You’ll be much better off using a known good powder rather than trying some random black that is probably from harbor freight and known to have issues. You just shoot the bullets so don’t get too hung up on the color.

[Big Boomer]

Bazoo: All the above know whereof they speak and write. PC really is the way to go. Some additional thoughts: I started with Smoke's clear because from my reading it is the nearest to being foolproof. Since I haven't used any of the other colors I can't comment about them, but Smoke's clear is easy to use. Fortunately, my house is whole-house air conditioned plus I have a dehumidifier in the basement. Applying the PC inside is safe. Just do not shake the container and open it immediately and the PC will have time to settle back down to the bottom of the container. I do my PCing in the basement. Baking is done outside when weather is suitable. I use an empty gunpowder container (TiteGroup - washed out well) with a screw-on lid to apply the PC. It has the #2 on the bottom and I use the bbs Smoke sells. Hope this helps. Big Boomer

[mehavey]

I'm reluctant to try ford light blue.

Trust me, you'll like Ford Light Blue....
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...=1#post5099015

[Walter Laich]

I do swirling with a shake at the end.

then into a plastic colander to separate the BBs from the powder and bullets--had to drill out holes for BBs to pass through

started out standing them all up but now dump them out on a wire rack I made out of hardware cloth so they fit the oven perfectly.

as soon as the timer goes off (20 min after temp reaches 207°C--that's 400°F for us Americans--my PID only shows °C) I dump the bullets into a rectangular cake pan at got at wally world

shake the pan to get all the bullets spread out and let them cool

while there are minor imperfections in the coating the time saved makes it well work the minor lower quality