New to PC

[rcn11thacr]

I have read so much that my head hurts and I’m partly confused. Being that I used to be an ASC certified painter and body guy, I got that part downpat. What has me is what is the best route to choose. I bought a re-store full size convection oven for $45 this week. With so many options of powder and types of powder guns to choose from I don’t know which one is the overall best powder type to go with (I don’t mean brand). From a cost perspective, which spray method is the most reasonable? I’m ocd enough to know that I’m gonna be the stand up boolit and spray kind. What is a mid grade spray gun recommendation?

[GregLaROCHE]

Some people use the spray method to coat their boolits, but I think most use what we all “shake n bake”. It’s putting some powder, boolits and sometimes airsoft bbs in a covered plastic container and shaking them for a while. Static electricity causes the powder to stick to the boolits and then they are removed and baked. There is a code on plastic containers that will let you know which is best. I forget what it is because it’s not on the containers I use. I’m sure someone will say which one it is, or search powder coating in the search box and you will find it and a lot more information.

Not all powders are the same. Some work better than others especially with the shake n bake method. There is a member here who sells it and everyone says it works well for them. He goes by the name Smokes here.

I’ll just add that it is very important to keep your powder dry. Double bagged with all excess air squeezed out. I always add a few silica gel packs to mine.

Welcome to the world of powder coating. It’s a great way to go. As I said, don’t hesitate to use the search engine on this site. There’s a wealth of information on Powder coating and much more. Good luck.

[Walks]

I've used Smoke4320's powder with very good results. Also Eastwood powder.
Harbor Freight powder is TERRIBLE.

I use a Ziploc container with a #5 in the little triangle on the bottom. And the black 6mm BB's too. A 5"×5"× 1/2" container with a tablespoon of black BB's and a teaspoon of powder to start. And 75 - 44/45 or 100 9mm/38 bullets. And shake in a circle for 30sec. Add 1/2 of powder as needed. Bake at 400 for 20min. Dump Hot bullets immediately into quench bucket.
I stand up my bullets on non-stick foil, just my preference.

Good Luck

[oley55]

I have read so much that my head hurts and I’m partly confused. Being that I used to be an ASC certified painter and body guy, I got that part downpat. What has me is what is the best route to choose. I bought a re-store full size convection oven for $45 this week. With so many options of powder and types of powder guns to choose from I don’t know which one is the overall best powder type to go with (I don’t mean brand). From a cost perspective, which spray method is the most reasonable? I’m ocd enough to know that I’m gonna be the stand up boolit and spray kind. What is a mid grade spray gun recommendation?

I'll be following this thread in the hope future responders provide more responses specific to your question. In the mean time this sticky is a good source for spraying/electrostatic powder coating.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?209151-Powder-Coating-101-Electrostatic-Method

I am still on the fence about standing up the boolits and electrostatic guns. I can't get past the notion of what's the point if we are not coating the boolit bases. Perhaps it's no more of an issue than it is with FMJs though.