I'm Going in With Both Feet

[Tech2]

I went to Harbor Freight and bought some red and black powder coat.
Today I played with a few micro experiments on my hot plate.
Tonight I picked up a Convection cookie oven.
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Yes that's a whole cookie sheet inside.
I need to run the thermostat up a little hotter before I cure in it.
So far none of the methods generate a highly consistent coating.
The little containers and micro experiments are quick and dirty.
Adhesion is impressive.

[Maximumbob54]

Be aware there is a back and forth right now over the matte black eating the barrel. It's the only one I've heard this issue. There is a thread here where a guy says some volume of 9mm with that matte black coating ate his Lone Wolf stainless steel Glock barrel. The matte black is the only one that I could get to tumble coat with lacquer thinner, go figure. The HF gloss red seems to be the only one that will dry tumble coat. As a side not I turned down the heat and the time on baking mine to 350ish and only 15 minutes and no more over cooked and everything still melts and cures.

[popper]

HF white works also. Enjoy the water, it's great.

[sparky45]

Where'd you get that oven?

[Beagle333]

Where'd you get that oven?

Yeah! Three full trays of capacity? I want that thing! 'Looks like they're going for $150-160 on Fleabay. :coffeecom

[Mike Hughes]

The Otis Spunkmeyer cookie oven looks like it will work great. I like how they designed the brackets, making it easy to get the cookie sheets in and out. And being able to use standard size cookie sheet is a huge plus. Being convection should help to maintain consistent temps. If you don't already have one, I would get a oven thermometer to manage temp settings (I use a cheap one from walmart). Have you tried Freightmans dry tumble method? Works best with a vibrating tumbler, but you can also just shake in a plastic container. Seems to be the best tumble method. Have fun and welcome to the addiction. The pc is growing at a fast rate and looks to be a major advancement for cast bullets

[C. Latch]

Um....what happens when you overcook the powder?

Did I miss a sticky on the properties of coatings as they progress from barely melted to done to overcooked?

[Maximumbob54]

This is just guessing but I bet it gets brittle.

[popper]

I cook the HF for 1/2-1 hr with no problems, @ 400F. Over temp is worse than over time.

[Tech2]

I found the oven on Craigslist for $30 the tray was $3 at big lots It doesn't have an external temp set, you have to pop the cover to adjust it. I may add a nice digital control.
I read the thread on the flat black wear concern. When people were saying that the black was harder to push through the sizing die I thought that was a bad sign. My thought was if it looks like sand paper and feels like sand paper it probably cuts like sand paper. The good news is it will hold lots of moly or WS2. My unregulated hot plate experiments turned the red to brown but it didn't get brittle. They easily passed the hammer test and totally impressed everyone at the Christmas party.
My past research suggested that the best accuracy and hardness was obtained with an unsized properly cast boolit. Some of you guys are sizing them twice. I don't know if you can assume the powder coat should be added to the lead thickness. This is a new field and the powder coat may drastically improve the tolerance for oversized projectiles especially in the softer pistol rounds.
We may want to investigate Kynar based powder coat powders. It is very stable and is used as a lubricant in powder form.

[C. Latch]

I don't know if you can assume the powder coat should be added to the lead thickness. This is a new field and the powder coat may drastically improve the tolerance for oversized projectiles especially in the softer pistol rounds.

So, basically, it would be worth the effort to try sizing, THEN coating, then shooting without a second sizing, so that the bullet was oversized by the thickness of the PC?

[Tech2]

I made it down the learning curve a long ways this week.
The oven is a pain to get dialed in to 400 deg. but with a lot of patience it is there. Digital next time.
My dads brand new HF powder coater doesn't seem to make any high voltage but how was I supposed to know what working looks like.
The first batch turned out terrible so I tumbled a second coat on them and cured again. Acceptable but no prize.
I used today's HF 25% off coupon to buy my own gun and a few more supplies. Set it all up in the garage.
Loaded up another tray and tried again. What a difference when the gun works.
I feel like a pro after these.
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Time to work up some loads!!

[prickett]

I went to Harbor Freight and bought some red and black powder coat.
Today I played with a few micro experiments on my hot plate.


It looks like your overcooked one are darker than your non-overcooked ones?

I ask because mine are turning out brown rather than red. I cook for 30 minutes at 425F, so I'm wondering if that is why they aren't ending up red. I'm not overly concerned, because the brown actually looks pretty cool - but, I'm just plain curious as to why.

[Tech2]

425 will definitely turn them brown. It doesn't seem to effect the adhesion or flaking but it probably effects the hardness and probably the lubricity.

[Maximumbob54]

Without a good oven thermometer you really don't know just how hot that oven is getting with the elements blazing away. I started to bake mine at 375ish and no more toasted coatings and they all still have a good finish.

[prickett]

Yeah, that is why I bake at 425F. On a cheapo oven I'm hoping that "425F" is at least "400F".

Tonight I'll try 400 and/or 375 to how they turn out.