NavyVet1959
11-11-2014, 04:40 AM
Well, I have tried a couple of materials while experimenting with the Airsoft BB Dry Tumble method of powder coating and some worked better than others.
1. Regular aluminum foil -- It sticks VERY well and you end up with a very thin aluminum disk on the bottom of the bullet. Removing the bullets from the foil results in it tearing and you seldom get a bullet without at least a moderate amount of aluminum foil on the base of the bullet.
2. Copier paper -- It sticks very well and the paper ends up getting toasted. It's pretty easy to remove the excess paper except for the part that is stuck on the base of the bullet. If you rub the bullets between your hands or tumble them in a container, the excess paper flakes off and the paper that is bonded to the powder coating stay there.
3. Cedar board -- Due to the rough texture of the cedar, it doesn't stick much. You get a couple of slivers of wood that stay attached to the base of the bullet, but nothing that won't either come off or would affect the bullet appreciably. The major problem that I found with this method is that the coating did not bond as well to the bullet since when you run the bullet through the sizer, some of the powder coating comes off. You can also scratch it off sometimes with a fingernail. Maybe the moisture in the wood is affecting the temperature? I tired it three times this way and was not satisfied with any of the attempts.
4. Non-stick aluminum foil -- I used the Wal-mart generic brand of non-stick aluminum foil and it definitely worked better than regular aluminum foil, but over an entire tray of bullets, I would get three tear throughs. I tried both sides of the foil and they both seemed to have the same degree of non-stickiness.
5. Beer can aluminum -- Yeah, I know this sounds strange, but since I was drinking beer and had a few empties starting to accumulate, I decided to give it a try. I was not happy with the non-stick aluminum foil since it seemed so thin that I had to be careful to keep it from tearing a hole when I was removing the bullets from it. I cut the top and bottom off the can, split the side, and then flattened it out. The effort to take the bullets off the beer can aluminum was a lot less than with the non-stick aluminum foil. I definitely did not need to worry about tearing the beer can aluminum while removing the bullets though. The only problem for some people though might be that when you pop the bullets off the aluminum, a good portion (sometimes all) of the powder coating on the base of the bullet stays with the aluminum instead of staying with the lead. I'm using the inner portion of the beer can oriented up.
1. Regular aluminum foil -- It sticks VERY well and you end up with a very thin aluminum disk on the bottom of the bullet. Removing the bullets from the foil results in it tearing and you seldom get a bullet without at least a moderate amount of aluminum foil on the base of the bullet.
2. Copier paper -- It sticks very well and the paper ends up getting toasted. It's pretty easy to remove the excess paper except for the part that is stuck on the base of the bullet. If you rub the bullets between your hands or tumble them in a container, the excess paper flakes off and the paper that is bonded to the powder coating stay there.
3. Cedar board -- Due to the rough texture of the cedar, it doesn't stick much. You get a couple of slivers of wood that stay attached to the base of the bullet, but nothing that won't either come off or would affect the bullet appreciably. The major problem that I found with this method is that the coating did not bond as well to the bullet since when you run the bullet through the sizer, some of the powder coating comes off. You can also scratch it off sometimes with a fingernail. Maybe the moisture in the wood is affecting the temperature? I tired it three times this way and was not satisfied with any of the attempts.
4. Non-stick aluminum foil -- I used the Wal-mart generic brand of non-stick aluminum foil and it definitely worked better than regular aluminum foil, but over an entire tray of bullets, I would get three tear throughs. I tried both sides of the foil and they both seemed to have the same degree of non-stickiness.
5. Beer can aluminum -- Yeah, I know this sounds strange, but since I was drinking beer and had a few empties starting to accumulate, I decided to give it a try. I was not happy with the non-stick aluminum foil since it seemed so thin that I had to be careful to keep it from tearing a hole when I was removing the bullets from it. I cut the top and bottom off the can, split the side, and then flattened it out. The effort to take the bullets off the beer can aluminum was a lot less than with the non-stick aluminum foil. I definitely did not need to worry about tearing the beer can aluminum while removing the bullets though. The only problem for some people though might be that when you pop the bullets off the aluminum, a good portion (sometimes all) of the powder coating on the base of the bullet stays with the aluminum instead of staying with the lead. I'm using the inner portion of the beer can oriented up.