HI-TEK for 2016

[emorris]

I have been ussing a HE gun to powder coat 40 cal and 45 cal boolits for a little over a year now. I have not bothered with 9mm and 380 bullets since these plated bullets are far cheapier than 40 and 45 cal plated, and couldent justify the labor involved, only because I only have a limited amout of free time with two young boys and a job that keeps me busy.

I am thinking that HI-TEK may be a faster process than powder coating. My process now for powder coating is: cast boolits, size them, stand them up and powder coat, and then resize them. I use trays with nuts jb welded with a foil covering. The part I really hate is standing up the bullets and doing a balancing act as I put the tray in the oven. This is the part that I wish to do away with HI-TEK.

I thought that I had a handle on HI-TEK until I read the MEGA HI-TEK thread. I am more confused now than before. My questions are: what color, powder or liquid, prep and application methods, tempature and curing time for each, how much HI-tek to use for how many boolits when shaking, how many boolits to process at a time, and where to buy this stuff at.

My thought is that I can cast and coat and then size. I read that I can size after the first coat but not before. Then recoat as much as needed and load them. Any thoughts and advise is welcome. Please dont tell me to reread the mega thread.

[BNE]

Have you tried tumble coating with the tumble air soft BB method?

I tumble coat, then bake, then size.

I have found this to be much quicker and cleaner than hi-tek.

[emorris]

I havent tried the air soft method. I was under the impression that I would have to still stand each bullet up after coating. This is the one main step that I wish not to have to do. I am happy with my results with the esp gun, but I would like to give the HI-TEK a try if for no reasion other than to say I tried somthing new in 2016. It being quicker for bulk runs would be bonus. I mainly dont know where to start.

[bangerjim]

Standing your boolits up on nuts is part of your domino effect problem! Not needed.

I just sit 9/38/40/45 cal boolits flat on their bases. Those are fat enough bases with a lower center of gravity that I never have had one fall over. Long skinny rifle boolits are different. I put them down in fender washers with NSAF over them and push down in.

BBDT is fast and efficient.......more so than ESPC, but the coating quality is not as high, but good enough for most.

And you can get red powder at your local Harbor Freight store.

I use both methods interchangeably.


I only use one coat & one bake for BBDT and ESPC. I know they other stuff takes several coats and bakes.

banger

[runfiverun]

HI-TEK is relatively simple.
you can just get the powder and mix it with acetone from the store.
shake everything around and cook it for about 20 minutes, then size, then do another coat if necessary.
you want it on the unsized boolit because it sticks to the rough lead easier.
oh you get it from HI-TEK [member here and that's his handle]
he can explain the whole process exactly how it goes I'm just going from memory.

[220]

Your right in that no need to stand them with HiTek, just shake and bake.
1ml/lb has been working for me and 10-12min at 390, any of the metallics seem to require 12min.
Fan forced oven is almost a must as is confirming oven temperatures, bake volumes are going to depend on oven size but I coat anything up to 10lb at a time and then bake what the oven can handle.

[farmerjim]

Hi-Tek is the fastest for bulk boolits. I do 300 a batch in a convection oven. ASBBDT is almost as fast. Stand upright on non stick Al foil or parchment paper. There are more colors with powder coating. Also powder coating will add .001 to .002 to the boolit. Hi-Tek is so thin that you can't measure the thickness with a micrometer.
I do both and they are both good. You might also try Bens liquid lube (BLL) it is fast and good too, just not as colorful.

[fredj338]

It's probably a push as to time. HT has to bake twice, but the bullets don't need special care during the baking process. PC bakes once, but more time getting the bullets out of the powder & onto a baking surface. So flip a coin. PC is probably a bit cheaper to, especially if you can get HF red to shake & bake. Both add thickness to the bullet, the HT being thinner.

[popper]

Gold 1035 powder works great for 9 & 40. Two ten min. Processing cycles, 10. Min cook while you do something else.