i am a totally new to powder coating, help?

[johnson1942]

i paperpatch bullets for muzzleloaders but feel powder coated bullets can do the same thing with out the paper. i know nothing about powder coating, can you experts explain it so i can under stand it and do it. thanks before hand, johnson 1942

[jcren]

No expert, and use sabots in my ml, but pc in several handgun and rifle calibers. First, it is way easier than you think, YouTube makes it look akin to brain surgery while building a rocket. Look up Smoke4320 in the vendor section, and in his thread about quality powder for sale is a link for proven step by step directions. While there, get some powder and bb's, quality powder makes a world of difference.

[Dragonheart]

I am afraid you ask too much for a single post. There is a ton of information and misinformation in the sticky's if you have several days to sort through them. I would ditto "jcrn's suggestion about starting off with a pound of quality powder or a sample pack from smoke. I would also suggest you go to YouTube and view a few videos as it will be faster to gather the information and misinformation there. If anyone is listening I would suggest 90% of the sticky posts be eliminated just for those just starting out.

[Yodogsandman]

Buy the good powder. Get smoke's powder from the vendor section, Harbor Freight RED or check the stickies above for what others are using for best results.

PC must be applied to a clean, grease free boolit surface.

The powder coating "sticks" to boolits or any surface that has an opposite electrical charge. With the Electrostatic Spray Method (ESPC) the boolit is grounded by being set on aluminum foil that's been grounded or when using the "shake and bake" method, the friction causes a static charge to the boolits and the PC clings to them.

Electrostatic Spray Method (ESPC) requires compressed air from an air compressor (under 10 PSI), electricity and a PC gun.

"Shake and Bake" only needs a #5 covered bowl or container and a few layers on the bottom of plastic air soft BB's. Black BB's are desired but not exclusive for use. The #5 is the number on the bottom used for recycling purposes to indicate the type of plastic composition. After shaking, the boolits are transferred for curing to a pan covered with non-stick aluminum foil (NSAF) using needle nose pliers, hemostats or just PC dusted gloved fingers. Sometimes the "Shake and Bake" method is effected by the humidity.

Curing PC is done in an oven at about 400*F for ten minutes cure time, depending on the brand of PC. That's ten minutes after the powder coating has melted on the surface. I put them in the oven with the oven "cold" so, have to heat up to temperature (400*F) and the PC melted before the clock starts. Don't trust the temperature settings of the oven, get a cheapo oven thermometer. Most use a convection oven for more consistent heat over the whole oven.

PC'd boolits can be air cooled or water quenched.

Don't breath the dust or fumes from the curing process. Do it in a ventilated area. Wear gloves and safety glasses. Never use the oven for any food again, it's only good for lead work and PC after using.

[OS OK]

*177721

Morning Roger...so...Your gonna giver a go hehh? Well, you wont regret your efforts as it is actually a fun and rewarding aspect of handloading.
*Dragonheart suggests using a particular thermometer to verify your oven temperature as the bake time and temp. is critical to success...it's cheap and easy to find online or at the local 'kitchen shops' in the malls.
As you progress and hopefully post pic's of your success we can go into much more depth of the entire process and other considerations...one tip I'll giveYa...start by PC'ing small batches, say 50 or less, it'll be quicker to see the results and you won't feel like you have wasted your time if you need to put the culls back into the melt pot. Besides, if there are culls...it wasn't wasted time, it was 'learning what not to do', just as important as 'what to do'...we learn from both results.

Best-O-luck TooYa Rog...charlie