Which way to go, powder coating or hi tek

[phil3333]

Starting to cast again and I want to do one or the other for my bullets

[slide]

When I started out I used hi-tek.Got tired of doing two to three coats. With powder coat I can do it in one coat. Now, this was after doing it for a while and getting my technique down. There is a learning curve to both. In my opinion powder coat is tougher than hi-tek. Hi-tek is a good product. Why don't you try both and see what works best for you.

[phil3333]

Thanks

[bangerjim]

One and done with PC.......using shake-n-bake or ESPC gun. Both, if done properly, will give excellent coats in just one process. I just prefer these days the ESPC guns for perfect coats every time. I don't like re-doing things I just already did!

[Conditor22]

HiTek requires 2 coats for appearance, 1 coat will function but looks thin. I find that HiTek is better for larger batches of boolits ( I like to do 5 7 pound batches of boolits when I do HiTek)
with HiTek it's easy to get perfect coverage with minimal work (IF you follow the directions which are easy) HiTek boolits don't stick together when coating.
HiTek: mix the coating, apply a premeasured amount of coating to boolits when you are swirling them for apr 15 seconds, dump on drying screen, when dry bake for 9-12 minutes depending on oven, cool, coat, dry, bake, cool, then size. There are around 12 colors available. Most commercial coaters use HiTek running large batches
Equipment needed: HiTek powder, scale to weigh powder, Acetone, container to measure the acetone, air tight container to mix and store the HiTek solution in, syringe to measure the amount of HyTek solution you use for number of pounds of boolits you are coating, screens to cool and bake the HiTek coated boolits on

PC (powdercoating)

Not everything is equal in powder coating.

Powder Coating creates a Polymer coating/shell around the cast boolit
.....a) it helps protect the boolit from the barrel
.....b) it works as a lubricant between the boolit and the barrel
.....c) it protects the user (and user's kids) from the lead

Different atmospheric conditions can limit static or dampen the powder.

1) the powder must be kept dry ----I use double zipper bags in the NW where we get a lot of rain, store my powder in a garage with a gas furnace and WH
2) the boolits must be kept clean --- IF I'm not coating the boolits right away I put them in plastic zipper bags --- NEVER QUENCH before PCing!!!
.....a) baking the boolits will take most of the hardness you gain by quenching out of the boolit
.....b) quenching is a good way to contaminate the boolits so the PC won't stick well
.....c) quenching after PCing gives good results
.....d) touching the boolit with oily hands can/will affect the coating --- wear nitrile/plastic gloves or use a clean spoon or ? to move the boolits

https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png

PC can be dried out in an oven KEEP the temperature below 150° F (leaving the container open in an airconditioned room works) IF the PC is lumpy after drying it will quickly become powder again when you start swirl/shaking [I Rarely ever shake the container when PCing -- the containers don't last long when I do and just swirling gives me good results

3) the oven temperature must be checked with an oven thermometer (or 2) and the dial adjusted to where the thermometers read 400°
.....a) the oven temperatures will change with the surrounding air temperature due to location and type of sensor they use
.....b) toaster ovens work but only for smaller loads and have a tendency to have hot spots (some of the boolits can/will melt)
.....c) conventions ovens have been proven best because they have a circulating and the evenly heats all the boolits ---you can safely bake full trays of boolits

4) If the air/atmosphere is really damp you may need to pre-warm the boolits --- I use an oven set at 150° F or you can set a pan of boolits on to of your hot oven
.....a) the boolits must not be hotter than you can comfortably touch with bare hands or you can get PC clumping-- starting to cure

5) not all PC needs BB's/poly pellets to work --- this is a trial and error thing

6) polyester (usually TGIC) PC works best for me, I get better results with higher gloss powders

7) white/light colors generally don't cover well but adding a little of another color usually helps

8) COATING BOOLITS:
.....A) BOWLS
..........1) coating bowls/containers need to be plastic #5 or plastic #2
..........2) larger diameter bowls allow you to swirl/build up static faster thus cool whip bowls do such a good job
..........3) lids: if the bowl doesn't have a screw-on lid make sure you hang onto it or the lid will come open
.....B)STATIC BUILDING MEDIA: Normally cover the bottom of small bowls with 2 layers large bowls with 1 layer
..........1) ASBB (Air Soft BB's) black BB's are proven to work I've found camouflaged BB's that work also. It has to do with the hardness, what the BB's are made out of as to how well they help build static. even nonstatic building BB's will help even out the coating
..........2) Poly pellets normally black or white, haven't found any poly pellets that didn't help
.....C) Boolits:
..........1) use a minimum of 12-15 boolits -- enough to build up static
..........2) maximum no more than 2-3 layers deep in your bowl
.....D) Powder: This will vary on bowl size and number of boolits being coated
..........1)Ziploc Twist 'n Loc, after the BB's are coated, no more than 1 teaspoon per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.
..........2) Cool Whip after the BB's are coated 1-2 teaspoons per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.
..........3) Too much PC will prevent good static build-up
..........4) Too little PC will result in thin/spotty coating --- it's easy to add a little more and swirl a little longer
.....E) blending/mixing different PC is not like dealing with paint, white and black don't always make grey more often you get spotted/splotchy boolits
a) blending/mixing a little good PC with a bad PC often makes the bad PC work
b) blending/mixing multiple PCs can give you amazing results but the results will change with each batch you coat
c) some powders stick faster/better than others, the blend color will be heavier with that color to begin with then taper of when the color is used up in the bowl
.....F) SWIRLING: Screw or hold the lid tight and swirl the bowl holding it flat to verticle and back to flat, continue until all boolit are coated
.....G) preparing coated boolits:
..........1) REMOVE ALL EXCESS POWDER
.................a) Sift PC/boolits/BB's in a colander with something to catch the BB's and powder when they fall through the colander removing all excess PC
........................1) after all the PC/BB's are sifted off pick up the boolits with tweezers or fingers wearing surgical gloves (dipped in pc first to prevent sticking)
.................b) Pick up- dump PC'd boolits in a tray or? pick them up with tweezers, tap the tweezer on the side of a container to remove all excess PC
.....H) preparing to bake: Use a pan lined with non-stick paper/foil/bake mats or screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply)
..........a) stand short fat boolits up on their bases using finger or tweezer method
..........b) place taller boolits in silicone ice cube trays or use a metal grid to keep them from falling over
..........c) Dump method dump the sifted boolits in screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply) [this doesn't work well with all PC's you can get bad sticking
9) Baking PC the manufacturer states Bake for XX minutes at XXX° AFTER this condition exists
.....a) bake for XX minutes AFTER the boolits have reached XXX°
.....b) bake for XX minutes AFTER the PC starts to flow on the boolits
.....c) PC will look good after it flows and may pass the smash test BUT unless bakes to factory specifications IT IS NOT FULLY CURED
*****I have found that baking the coated boolits in an oven preheated to 400° for 25 minutes meets or exceeds all manufacturers requirements*****

10) Testing PC for adhesion/sticking using a smooth-faced hammer
.....a) flatten the PC'd cool boolit to 1/2 its original height seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off
.....b) hammer the PC'd cool boolit into a cube seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off
.....c) just because the PC passes the hammer test doesn't mean its fully cured, just that it is sticking well

11 SIZING
.....a) PC'd usually boolits size easily; if not, a little spray case lube can be used
.....b) IF PC is scraped off when sizing polish the entrance to your sizing die
..........1) with fine sandpaper made into a cone with the grit on the outside
..........2) with a Dremel tool, a felt boolit shaped polisher and some fine polishing compound --- I like Flitz
.....c)*** I like running a felt polisher in the sizing die for a few seconds to smooth the machine marks and make sizing easier
12 LOADING:
.....a) PC is normally loaded to regular cast boolit loads
.....b) GC usually aren't needed with PC's boolits until you reach 1600 - 2100 fps depending on the gun, powder, and boolit
.....c) PC'd boolits can work with a softer alloy and be pushed faster/harder than regular lubed boolits

***I like using different colored boolits to designate different diameters or powder charges***

[slide]

One piece of kit you can use for multiple things is a digital thermometer with a thermocouple. Cost you around twenty bucks on amazon. Drill a hole in a bullet and insert thermocouple and do the Hossfly technique. Simple matter of squeezing the bullet down on the bullet. Lay it in with your bullets when you bake them. With hi-tek when the bullets got to 360F I baked them for four minutes and they were done. Always passed the acetone and hammer test. You can use it for powder coat as well.

[GARD72977]

I HiTek coat for pistols. I PC for rifle.

I find PC will not chamber with most auto pistols

[phil3333]

HiTek requires 2 coats for appearance, 1 coat will function but looks thin. I find that HiTek is better for larger batches of boolits ( I like to do 5 7 pound batches of boolits when I do HiTek)
with HiTek it's easy to get perfect coverage with minimal work (IF you follow the directions which are easy) HiTek boolits don't stick together when coating.
HiTek: mix the coating, apply a premeasured amount of coating to boolits when you are swirling them for apr 15 seconds, dump on drying screen, when dry bake for 9-12 minutes depending on oven, cool, coat, dry, bake, cool, then size. There are around 12 colors available. Most commercial coaters use HiTek running large batches
Equipment needed: HiTek powder, scale to weigh powder, Acetone, container to measure the acetone, air tight container to mix and store the HiTek solution in, syringe to measure the amount of HyTek solution you use for number of pounds of boolits you are coating, screens to cool and bake the HiTek coated boolits on

PC (powdercoating)

Not everything is equal in powder coating.

Powder Coating creates a Polymer coating/shell around the cast boolit
.....a) it helps protect the boolit from the barrel
.....b) it works as a lubricant between the boolit and the barrel
.....c) it protects the user (and user's kids) from the lead

Different atmospheric conditions can limit static or dampen the powder.

1) the powder must be kept dry ----I use double zipper bags in the NW where we get a lot of rain, store my powder in a garage with a gas furnace and WH
2) the boolits must be kept clean --- IF I'm not coating the boolits right away I put them in plastic zipper bags --- NEVER QUENCH before PCing!!!
.....a) baking the boolits will take most of the hardness you gain by quenching out of the boolit
.....b) quenching is a good way to contaminate the boolits so the PC won't stick well
.....c) quenching after PCing gives good results
.....d) touching the boolit with oily hands can/will affect the coating --- wear nitrile/plastic gloves or use a clean spoon or ? to move the boolits

https://i.imgur.com/uclR2g1.png

PC can be dried out in an oven KEEP the temperature below 150° F (leaving the container open in an airconditioned room works) IF the PC is lumpy after drying it will quickly become powder again when you start swirl/shaking [I Rarely ever shake the container when PCing -- the containers don't last long when I do and just swirling gives me good results

3) the oven temperature must be checked with an oven thermometer (or 2) and the dial adjusted to where the thermometers read 400°
.....a) the oven temperatures will change with the surrounding air temperature due to location and type of sensor they use
.....b) toaster ovens work but only for smaller loads and have a tendency to have hot spots (some of the boolits can/will melt)
.....c) conventions ovens have been proven best because they have a circulating and the evenly heats all the boolits ---you can safely bake full trays of boolits

4) If the air/atmosphere is really damp you may need to pre-warm the boolits --- I use an oven set at 150° F or you can set a pan of boolits on to of your hot oven
.....a) the boolits must not be hotter than you can comfortably touch with bare hands or you can get PC clumping-- starting to cure

5) not all PC needs BB's/poly pellets to work --- this is a trial and error thing

6) polyester (usually TGIC) PC works best for me, I get better results with higher gloss powders

7) white/light colors generally don't cover well but adding a little of another color usually helps

8) COATING BOOLITS:
.....A) BOWLS
..........1) coating bowls/containers need to be plastic #5 or plastic #2
..........2) larger diameter bowls allow you to swirl/build up static faster thus cool whip bowls do such a good job
..........3) lids: if the bowl doesn't have a screw-on lid make sure you hang onto it or the lid will come open
.....B)STATIC BUILDING MEDIA: Normally cover the bottom of small bowls with 2 layers large bowls with 1 layer
..........1) ASBB (Air Soft BB's) black BB's are proven to work I've found camouflaged BB's that work also. It has to do with the hardness, what the BB's are made out of as to how well they help build static. even nonstatic building BB's will help even out the coating
..........2) Poly pellets normally black or white, haven't found any poly pellets that didn't help
.....C) Boolits:
..........1) use a minimum of 12-15 boolits -- enough to build up static
..........2) maximum no more than 2-3 layers deep in your bowl
.....D) Powder: This will vary on bowl size and number of boolits being coated
..........1)Ziploc Twist 'n Loc, after the BB's are coated, no more than 1 teaspoon per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.
..........2) Cool Whip after the BB's are coated 1-2 teaspoons per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.
..........3) Too much PC will prevent good static build-up
..........4) Too little PC will result in thin/spotty coating --- it's easy to add a little more and swirl a little longer
.....E) blending/mixing different PC is not like dealing with paint, white and black don't always make grey more often you get spotted/splotchy boolits
a) blending/mixing a little good PC with a bad PC often makes the bad PC work
b) blending/mixing multiple PCs can give you amazing results but the results will change with each batch you coat
c) some powders stick faster/better than others, the blend color will be heavier with that color to begin with then taper of when the color is used up in the bowl
.....F) SWIRLING: Screw or hold the lid tight and swirl the bowl holding it flat to verticle and back to flat, continue until all boolit are coated
.....G) preparing coated boolits:
..........1) REMOVE ALL EXCESS POWDER
.................a) Sift PC/boolits/BB's in a colander with something to catch the BB's and powder when they fall through the colander removing all excess PC
........................1) after all the PC/BB's are sifted off pick up the boolits with tweezers or fingers wearing surgical gloves (dipped in pc first to prevent sticking)
.................b) Pick up- dump PC'd boolits in a tray or? pick them up with tweezers, tap the tweezer on the side of a container to remove all excess PC
.....H) preparing to bake: Use a pan lined with non-stick paper/foil/bake mats or screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply)
..........a) stand short fat boolits up on their bases using finger or tweezer method
..........b) place taller boolits in silicone ice cube trays or use a metal grid to keep them from falling over
..........c) Dump method dump the sifted boolits in screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply) [this doesn't work well with all PC's you can get bad sticking
9) Baking PC the manufacturer states Bake for XX minutes at XXX° AFTER this condition exists
.....a) bake for XX minutes AFTER the boolits have reached XXX°
.....b) bake for XX minutes AFTER the PC starts to flow on the boolits
.....c) PC will look good after it flows and may pass the smash test BUT unless bakes to factory specifications IT IS NOT FULLY CURED
*****I have found that baking the coated boolits in an oven preheated to 400° for 25 minutes meets or exceeds all manufacturers requirements*****

10) Testing PC for adhesion/sticking using a smooth-faced hammer
.....a) flatten the PC'd cool boolit to 1/2 its original height seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off
.....b) hammer the PC'd cool boolit into a cube seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off
.....c) just because the PC passes the hammer test doesn't mean its fully cured, just that it is sticking well

11 SIZING
.....a) PC'd usually boolits size easily; if not, a little spray case lube can be used
.....b) IF PC is scraped off when sizing polish the entrance to your sizing die
..........1) with fine sandpaper made into a cone with the grit on the outside
..........2) with a Dremel tool, a felt boolit shaped polisher and some fine polishing compound --- I like Flitz
.....c)*** I like running a felt polisher in the sizing die for a few seconds to smooth the machine marks and make sizing easier
12 LOADING:
.....a) PC is normally loaded to regular cast boolit loads
.....b) GC usually aren't needed with PC's boolits until you reach 1600 - 2100 fps depending on the gun, powder, and boolit
.....c) PC'd boolits can work with a softer alloy and be pushed faster/harder than regular lubed boolits

***I like using different colored boolits to designate different diameters or powder charges***

Wow what an awesome response thanks

[Conditor22]

You are welcome, sometimes there isn't a simple answer

[RonIa]

I'm still up in the air what I want to do I'm wanting to coat is 38/357 bullets I have gas check molds and I want to do 9mm at some point I like the Hi-Tek coating from what I see but many are using powder coating looks like one tastes great and one is less filling I better keep reading before I jump into this there's lots of great information in this post I will be watching it as it goes
Ron

[remy3424]

Conditor, that post is impressive and in my limited experience (PC only), you are spot on with what works for me! Ron; It sounds complicated, but really isn't at all. I didn't have very good success with HF powder, ordered from Smoke here and get awesome results! Shoot mostly 9mm, 38SP, 45ACP and 44 Mag. Have 40 cal and 45 Colt boolits PCed, sized and ready to load. Not sure I will ever go back to traditional lube. Good luck!

[ioon44]

I tried PC and Hi-Tek and the Hi-Tek works better for me as I do large amounts of bullets.

[charlie b]

From the post above you can see that PC can be a bit finicky. HiTec does not seem to be so (have not tried it).

With minimal outlay in dollars you can try both and see what works best for you.

[popper]

PC is easy and works for my 40 & 9. I tried HiTek for rifle, sometimes the GC popped off when cooking. PC works better for HV rifle & w.d. I do 200 at a time on my hot plate, standing. Oven is on the shelf.

[Petander]

Try both and see.

I use Hi Tek with large batches / hard alloy and PC with small batches / soft alloy.

[Coopaloop86]

I have both and have tried both and while grounded in zero science or evidence, I just feel like the PC provides a better protecting layer. It feels thicker and slicker to me and psychologically convinces me that its a solid barrier against barrel friction. As stated, there is a learning curve to both but I generally stick to PC. The only real difference I have stumbled across is powder coat adds a thicker layer, so if you already have a large for caliber boolit, its going to be tougher to size.

[markmars]

Wow what an awesome response thanks

I agree a lot of useful information.

[Finster101]

I HiTek coat for pistols. I PC for rifle.

I find PC will not chamber with most auto pistols

I have never run in to this problem and I think very few others have as well since I do not read a lot of threads about it. Sizing after PCing seems to take care of it.

[BigMoney_NoWhammey]

I'm just getting into PC after trying out Hi tek. The hi tek was easy to use but I was having mixed results because I'm in a high humidity area. Hi tek is also apparently alloy sensitive, something I wish I would've know beforehand.

I went with the HF gun and got some smokes powder.

[ioon44]

I have used a lot of different alloys with my Hi-Tek coating and never had a problem with different alloys or high humidity. My guess your mixed results had to do with not getting the 1st coat dry before baking.

[tinsnips]

Would someone please explain alloy sensitive using Hi-Tek please? I am getting ready to try HiTek one of these day.

[slide]

They are talking about alloy being contaminated with zinc of some other compound. The hi tek will not stick very well if it is contaminated. You need to measure and weigh all your componets and make sure your temp is right. Hi tek is a good product.

[tinsnips]

Thank you Slide now I understand.