Definitive List - What powders work and what powders don't

[zymguy]

I searched for Smoke4320 to inquire about some of his powder without any luck.

I did contact PBTP and asked about the clear colors. Gal recommended the “Glass Clear” and I’m wanting to preserve the “natural” cast look.

Anyone use the “Glass Clear” from PBTP? How were your results?

I havent tried PBTP but smokes clear works for me. tumbled without bbs or any other fuss. Post 245 in this thread will gitchcha' to where you can message mr Smoke4320 if youd still like to try his powders.
Good luck

[Conditor22]

I searched for Smoke4320 to inquire about some of his powder without any luck.

I did contact PBTP and asked about the clear colors. Gal recommended the “Glass Clear” and I’m wanting to preserve the “natural” cast look.

Anyone use the “Glass Clear” from PBTP? How were your results?

TRY HERE http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?252509-VS-Hi-Quality-Powdercoating-Powder-For-sale

[Daver7]

Has anyone looked one of the metalic coatings? They would look cool but I'm thinking there would be an abrasive in it.

[Sig556r]

+1 on HF red
-1 on HF Black or Yellow (jury still out on HF White)
got lucky with poly-based blue (similar to eastwood) from ebay but not so much on darker, flat colors.
all shake-n-bake method

[Conditor22]

My favorite PC is SEMI-GLOSS METALLIC SILVER
works:
SEMI-GLOSS TEXTURE METALIC CHROME

HiTek coating has metal flakes in it to help act as a heat barrier and is used commercially world wide




FYI
DU PONT RAL 1001 PFTR01S7
POLYESTER TGIC FREE
BEIGE POWDER COAT AXALT

[newrugersafan]

Great results with Powder By The Pound Durable Clear and White Silver.

I coated some 44 Keith's and some 32 H & R bullets today with the clear, 40 degrees in the shop with 100% humidity and was able to get perfect coverage with tumble and air soft bbs.

Those 2 colors have always worked for me. Dupont black also covers well.

[redhawk0]

OK...I found my powder supplier information. It may have been posted before here but I wasn't going to look through all 7 pages to find out.

I have been using Absolute Powder Coating powders with good luck and no issues with my boolits. Shake and Bake method.

I've been baking these powders at 400* and 18 minutes.

RAL 6002 Leaf Green
RAL 1023 Traffic Yellow
RAL 5017 Traffic Blue
RAL 2004 Pure Orange

http://www.absolutepowdercoating.com/index.html

redhawk

[rockydoc]

This thread has been inactive for nearly a year. Does that mean the all questions have been answered and the best application method and products have been discovered?

From my reading of the posts the dry tumble air soft powder coat method is the most popular application method.

I have tried this method and find some less than ideal features:
1. Adds significantly to the diameter of the bullet.( this can be adjusted for)
2. Each bullet must be handled and placed upright on oven tray. (can't seem to get around this).

The electrostatic method works well but to me seems to be a pain in the rear and requires equipment that costs more than other methods. The two objections listed above for dry tumble also apply here.

The Hi-Tek product and method appear to answer my two objections re: thickness and handling but require more coats to get adequate coverage.

I have not tried any method but airsoft dry tumble and only HF Red, with the above mentioned objections.

I would appreciate comments on my observations.

[Conditor22]

rocky, depending on the PC and how thick you put it on (how much material you tap/shake off) PC adds .001 to .003. this isn't an issue because you can easily size the boolit down to where you want it, and is helpful if you have an undersized mold or oversized bore.

I have found that there are several pc's where you swirl the boolits, dump them in a colander and shake off the excess then dump them on a baking screen and get almost no sticking.

there are many different qualities of PC, HF red is near the bottom of the list for PC the works easily.

[rockydoc]

Conditor22 says:

"I have found that there are several pc's where you swirl the boolits, dump them in a colander and shake off the excess then dump them on a baking screen and get almost no sticking."

Conditor22, thanks for your reply. What powders do you recommend that you can dump on a screen without sticking? Is it color dependent, vendor dependent what makes the non-sticking difference.
Thanks,
Rocky

[bisher.arthur]

Powderbuythrpound
Super durable wet red
Dry tumble with airsoft bb's (tumble in case tumbler 30 min 1 coat
Stand up method
400 for 10 min

My method is a pita but it gets the job done
These are .312-155 I'll size to .308 for my BLK.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200414/3f4eeb761a5620b2a39595bfb25472a7.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200414/de6fa87bca44e8dc4514a86b74749b8d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200414/c52d856da955d210b0893c142adc4202.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200414/131fa2533e1003bfb031c4a719fdc285.jpg

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[airone46]

I had already written a post but I had no answer: maybe I had the wrong place!
since there are two types of powder for painting I would like to know if it is better to use epoxy powders or polyester powders.
I read that you cook at 400 ° (I assume F ° !!!) which corresponds to 200 ° C, which is the temperature used for epoxy powders (the polyester powders polymerize at 356F ° !!!). But I have seen that some employ the times used for cooking polyester powders 20 min. !!!) !!!
At this point I have not understood anything! What kind of powder do you use? Epoxies or polyesters? It is useless to tell me the name of the seller, because in Italy it is most likely not found!

[Gamsek]

I had already written a post but I had no answer: maybe I had the wrong place!
since there are two types of powder for painting I would like to know if it is better to use epoxy powders or polyester powders.
I read that you cook at 400 ° (I assume F ° !!!) which corresponds to 200 ° C, which is the temperature used for epoxy powders (the polyester powders polymerize at 356F ° !!!). But I have seen that some employ the times used for cooking polyester powders 20 min. !!!) !!!
At this point I have not understood anything! What kind of powder do you use? Epoxies or polyesters? It is useless to tell me the name of the seller, because in Italy it is most likely not found!

Look for:
Polyester gloss that has TGIC in.
200C for 15 - 20 minutes.

Almost any CLEAR (no pigment) works extremely well. Clear coated after firing

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200414/208875cdeb81e12d0c430a9d3ac8053f.jpg

[PhatForrest]

Just tried my first powder coating attempt ever with Eastwood Ford Light Blue. A minute or so of shaking in a #5 tub, 20 minutes of cooking after initial melt, and they came out great! They ran through a Star sizer without a problem.

Thanks to all who contribute to these posts! I've been casting now for about 8 years, and always get great info from the posters here.

[rockydoc]

bisher-arthur:

The red boolits:
That looks awfully thick. Is that just one coat? How much did this increase the diameter of the boolit?

[popper]

WAY too thick!

[Conditor22]

bisher.arthur they should look more like this, thin even coating (GC then PC) . you need to shake. tap of all the excess PC

Looks like you built up way too much static cut the cast tumblet time back to case tumbler 10-15 min (maybe less)

https://i.imgur.com/uJK7caH.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/HlgHGUU.jpg

[mortre]

I've completed my first few PC attempts, powder from ptbp. Keep in mind that I'm on the "wet side" of Washington. So my issues with Signal Blue might simply indicate it is more sensitive to relative humidity, which seems to run about 80% + this time of year.

Signal blue - Kinda sorta worked once, but really doesn't want to stick.
Wine Red - Seemed to work the best
Crystal Clear Super Durable High Gloss Clear - That stuff goes on THICK. I might try mixing it with some signal blue and hope for a coating similar to the Wine Red.

[slide]

Shake them and then shake them some more. Have a wire basket that will allow the bullets some room to move thus getting the excess powder off. When you first start out there is something in the back of our minds that says,don't shake too much all of the powder will come off. Don't listen to the little voice. Keep at it. You will develop what works best for you.

[38SuperAuto]

Have watched a few vids on utube. Some guys prebake a few mins their projectiles prior to coating. Suspect that might be to insure they are "dry". I have had good results generally, but had one bad batch with clumping when humidity was too high.

DIY bullets, now if we only had a better primer source.

[Walstr]

HF Red is working for me right now. I'm on course to have 1 lb cover about 2500 mixed 9mm and .45 bullets.

Gear:
Applied via HF Electrostatic gun
Bullets stood up on Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Foil on baking sheets
Oster convection toaster oven
Lee tumble lube 124gr round nose .356

Test Gun:
CZ 75BD Police 9mm, bore slugged at .356

1 ES coat of HF Red
Baked 4 mins @375F, 3 mins @400F
12 BHN
Sized down from .360 to .357

9mm: 4.1 gr Unique, OAL 1.088, Tulammo SP primers

I had hell getting 9mm to work in anything. I was ending up with leading every time I turned around. Magma lube didn't fix it. 50/50 didn't fix it. Ben's Red didn't fix it. ALOX didn't fix it. 45-45-10 didn't fix it. .358 boolits didn't fix it. Extra hard didn't fix it. Extra soft didn't fix it. I was near giving up.

It was then that you 21st Century pioneers showed me the way. Not only are these boolits accurate, not only are they pretty, not only do they minimize lead exposure, but they shoot CLEAN. My first experiments yesterday landed 16/16 shots on steel and the barrel looked like it'd just been cleaned. 12 mags later, and only minor powder fouling is present in the bore.

NOOB query: Pls. explain the "tumble lube"step in the PC process. Thanks. I'm gunna PC when I order some powder.

[62chevy]

NOOB query: Pls. explain the "tumble lube"step in the PC process. Thanks. I'm gunna PC when I order some powder.

Easy get plastic container put about 30 to 50 bullets in the container with some Air Soft BBs then shake until they are coated with powder. Put on a tray and cook for 20 minutes at 400 F. This is overly simple way and keep reading as the finer details will come out then.

[Conditor22]

These are actual pictures of swirl, sift off BB's and PC, stand up and bake 25 min @400° in a preheated oven

https://i.imgur.com/QYndcwn.png

https://i.imgur.com/rsw5VwL.png

https://i.imgur.com/S9jpeK0.png

[rockydoc]

Conditor 22: Beautiful PC'd boolits! Thanks for sharing.

Do you find a significant difference in film thickness of the different powders.
In other words: If you had a boolit that was too small in diameter and you wanted to make it larger you would use X powder, and if the boolit was close to the diameter you desire and you want to PC with the least increase in diameter possible, you would use Y powder. Which powders would you recommend for those divergent applications?

[btr-cj]

Color: Ink Black – PSS-0106
Num of Coats: 1
PoP: Prismatic
Temp: 400F for 25 minutes in preheated oven
MoA: Dry Tumble with pony beads
Prognosis: Works.

Color: Clear Vision - PPS-2974
Num of Coats: 1
PoP: Prismatic
Temp: 400F for 25 minutes in preheated oven
MoA: Dry Tumble with pony beads
Prognosis: Works.

Color: Gloss White - PSS-5690
Num of Coats: 1
PoP: Prismatic
Temp: 400F for 25 minutes in preheated oven
MoA: Dry Tumble with pony beads
Prognosis: Works.

Color: Hunter Green - PSS-1610
Num of Coats: 1
PoP: Prismatic
Temp: 400F for 25 minutes in preheated oven
MoA: Dry Tumble with pony beads
Prognosis: Works.

All 4 of these powders are working for me. I preheat oven to 400 while I tumble a batch.
For now I am standing them up with tweezers but that may change later.
Swirl around in a #5 container for about 30 Seconds, load on tray with parchment paper.
Bake for 25 minutes and they are good to go.

[RufusBuck]

I tried to PC some boolits that I made with my Lee 309 230 the other night. This was my first attempt at PC. I preheat boolits for 4 min at 140 .I used HF flat black, shake and bake method, no air soft bbs. The boolits would only take on spots of the PC. I reheated and tried again. It just made a mess so I melted those boolits down and ordered some Eastwood light Ford blue.

[SteveM54]

There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. - Will Rodgers

:drinks: Crack me up

edited: Sorry, I saw this on a post here & HAD to steal it

[Charlie Horse]

The only powder I've used is Smoke's Traffic Purple and it has worked like a charm. Shake with bb's, stand on parchment paper, bake 20 min at 400, size, load and shoot.

My best accuracy has been with bullets that required the least amount of sizing. For me, that's been 9mm bullets shot out of 357 bores. Any time I size more than .002 accuracy goes out the window.

[prickett]

I tried to PC some boolits that I made with my Lee 309 230 the other night. This was my first attempt at PC. I preheat boolits for 4 min at 140 .I used HF flat black, shake and bake method, no air soft bbs. The boolits would only take on spots of the PC. I reheated and tried again. It just made a mess so I melted those boolits down and ordered some Eastwood light Ford blue.

HF Black does not work for shake and bake (ironically, I think that was the very first or second post in this forum).

If you don't want to waste the HF Black, you can try the piglet method (do a search for more info) where you create a slurry of HF Black and mineral spirits, then wet tumble. There is no need to bake using this method (unless I'm mis-remembering)

[P Flados]

A while back I shopped around and decided on Prismatic. I really did not find anything for less and I found no complaints for Prismatic.

I got RAL 4005 Purple (https://www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors/RAL-4005/ral-4005) and Ford Dark Blue. Cost was under $12 per pound plus $6.95 for shipping.

The purple worked great. Very easy to get full coverage with ASBB shake & bake.

The blue kinda worked some, but getting coverage was hit or miss. I can get some use out of it by mixing with the purple. I recommend avoiding this one.

[rockydoc]

It would be very informative and useful information if we reported how much thickness is added by one coat of the powders we are reporting.

[Shadow9mm]

Been using Powder by the pound's Glass Clear. running about 325-350F for 18min. great coating, no flaking.

299610

[gifbohane]

Can anyone recommend a good youtube video for the Eastwood PC. I finally have everything I need and am about to jump in.

Also, stupid question of the week, do I need gas checks with the PC method?

Another, do the lube grooves on my new NOE mold work fine with the PC method?

[prickett]

There are dozens/hundreds of videos showing the powder coat method. Eastwood PC works no different to any other make of PC. You really don't even need a video. Find a Cool Whip bowl (or bowl using the same type of plastic). Dump in your boolits. Sprinkle on your powder. Swirl around until boolits are covered completely. If they don't cover completely, sprinkle in a little more powder (too much powder isn't a problem as you can simply sift out the excess and put back in your powder bag/container). When coated, dump them into a wire mesh tray (can make out of 1/4" hardware mesh). Stick in an over for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. When done, dump out of the tray into another trays and separate any that are stuck together. Size them. Shoot them.

You may need gas checks depending on what velocity of round you are loading. Typical pistol rounds (e.g. 9mm or .45 ACP) don't need gas checks. Some of the really hot pistol rounds and most rifle rounds will need gas checks.

Not familiar with the NOE mold, but lube grooves don't typically present any problems. I use both Lee tumble lube molds and conventional lube molds and both work great.

[gifbohane]

prickett -- a big "Thank You" for the concise and very helpful answer.

Also I presume that I PC before I put it through the sizer.

[prickett]

Also I presume that I PC before I put it through the sizer.

Yes. Trying to size naked lead is VERY hard to do. The PC lubes the boolit making sizing much easier.

[Shuz]

On the same alloy, Smokes traffic purple and JD Green works very well with the tumble lube plastic container without balls. Smoke's wine red doesn't cover well at all.

[stevo1911]

These bullets are coated with a mix of the powders pictured
Color: Eastwood Maroon + Eastwood Bright Signal White + RAL Signal Blue
Num of Coats: 1
Temp: 400F for 20 minutes (oven NOT preheated)
MoA: Dry Tumble with AirSoft BBs in #5 Plastic container for 30 seconds.
Comments: I have found that mixing powders seems to give me the best and most interesting results. Many powders don't work that well by themselves. However, it seems mixing makes them all work...
Prognosis: Excellent coverage/coating and are really cooling as well.

https://imgur.com/a/HsrwhrL

302507

[technojock]

After my failure to coat with gray powder, I decided to look at the HF website to see how much their red PC is going for just for the H of it and they now only list white and black. I'll get some better PC the next time I have a few bucks rolling up hill...

Tony