Powder coating: Diving in head first.

[littlejack]

I've been doing quite a bit of researching on the powder coating techniques. Lots of great information here on the forum. Found out not to trust the thermometer on the toaster ovens, or at least not untill you have corroborated the temperatures with a different trusted thermometer. Sooo, I'm asking the expierienced multitude which thermometer they found was best. Would it be one of the probe models that one would have to drill a hole in the oven for the probe, or one that hangs on the rack in the oven while cooking the boolits. Thank you in advance.

[hc18flyer]

I had one for my home oven that sits on the shelf, very close to what my convection oven has on the dial. I started with 'smokes' powders and instructions a few months ago, haven't had a bad batch yet. I bet I have run 15 batches thru my $10. Goodwill 'turbo' toaster oven. I did just learn to wait to start the timer till I get back up to 400 degrees on larger batches and to run longer than 20 minutes on larger bullets. I have watched some of CW's videos too. I like it. hc18flyer

[Cast10]

I found a Cooper. It seems to be accurate enough to cook PC on boolits.

[littlejack]

Just came back from shopping around. Picked up a nice GE toaster oven for $20.00. Not very big, but I don't do big batches. It will probably take about 150 boolits per turn. I've already contacted Smokes about a sample pack of colors. He's out of black airsoft bb's. Went by WW today, and they didn't have any bb's at all. I'll keep checking places. I'm going to start with Lee 255 grain rnfp. Shouldn't have any trouble standing them up. Spose I could go down to the local HF and pick up some red powder. From what I've seen on posts it works purdy good. I really like the "speckled" look. Is it difficult to get that to come out looking right?
Still checking on thermometers.

[Dancing Bear]

I drilled a hole on top of the oven( avoid the heater rods) and use a digital thermometer. Make sure to dedicate the oven for pc'ing!

[hc18flyer]

I don't use the Bob's and it works fine for me. I like them speckled too!

[pworley1]

A harbor freight infrared will get you close enough. On mine 375 on the oven is running about 410 and makes nice bullets. I made some trays out of 1/4th inch hardware cloth
and I shake my bullets in an old powder bottle. I shake a few minutes then pour them into the tray that is sitting in an old 9x13 cake pan. I shake the tray to get the excess powder off and level out the bullets. My oven has a 30 minute timer and I just turn it all the way and let it go. Good luck with yours.

[littlejack]

hc18flyer
I didn't get the "Bob's" remark?? Inform me.

[Hick]

I have done thousands with Smoke's clear and do not use a thermometer. The trick is to always use the same batch size (I use 50 at a time) and mark the dial on the oven to the spot you want. I use a Black & Decker toaster oven, set at 400 degrees, and bake the bullets 15 min in a pre-heated oven. Some people try to measure the temperature inside a sample bullet to make sure it it up to temperature, but I don't believe that is necessary, because the powder is only on the surface of the bullet and the surface gets to air temperature virtually immediately. Try a couple of batches and test the coating to make sure it is good (smash test)-- then just run the oven the same way every time and you will be fine. The really important thing is to find the sweet spot for your oven and be consistent.

[charlie b]

You don't need to monitor the temp all the time. Just any meter will work. Run the oven until the temp is stable at 400deg and mark where that is on your oven dial (or write down what temp that is on the digital scale). Then just leave the setting there for all of your powder coating.

Until you find some BB's you can use substitutes. Hobby Lobby and Michaels have jewelry making stuff. The large plastic beads (about 1/4"dia) work ok. Some folks don't use the BB's but I like to use them, especially if I am not coating a ton of bullets at a time.

I'd wait for Smoke's powder to show up. When it does you'll toss the HF powder anyway :)

[hc18flyer]

hc18flyer
I didn't get the "Bob's" remark?? Inform me.

Sorry, don't need the air soft bb's! Dang auto correct!

[hc18flyer]

I shake mine on a screen, to get off the excess powder. I stand mine up, some don't. It is time consuming, I still do it.

[littlejack]

hc18flyer:
That's funny.Yep, that auto correct is a irritating little bugger.
I'll work on the heat setting and make my mark. And yes, I think I'll pass on the HF powder. Might as well save my $ for the good stuff.
So what's the secret to making speckled boolits?

[littlejack]

I just had the wife order on her Amazon Prime account, a bottle of 2000 count Crossman black bb's. Things are lookin up.
Delivered tomorrow! :guntootsmiley:

[hc18flyer]

No secret, They just turn out that way when you use 2 powders.

[Doubles Shooter]

Yep, easy to do. These were a 50/50 of Smoke's powder. Color plus white.
314447

[Doubles Shooter]

Stone is my favorite. Just black and white.
314448p

[Cast10]

314449

[gwpercle]

I shake mine on a screen, to get off the excess powder. I stand mine up, some don't. It is time consuming, I still do it.

:goodpost:
LIKE !

ATTABOY ! ... If you going to do something , do it right !
I like to stand them up too ... they just come out better looking .

Here's to standing em' up :drinks:
Gary

[littlejack]

It was my plan to stand the boolits up. I am purdy picky about my finished products. That came from 38 years In the steel fabrication trade. Quality work, kept my job. I don't cast in great amounts anyway. About the middle of this week, I cast just shy of 250 Lee 255 grain rnfp. Just short of an hour pouring time. I'm only good for about 2 hours on my feet.
I love nice looking reloads. They are a work of art. I don't make sub quality ammunition. Fellas, I really appreciate all the help and suggestions in getting started with this PC. Looking forward to some nice looking boolits, and reloads.
PS:
Those are some great looking boolits in the pics.

[littlejack]

Getting closer.
I received the black bb's a couple days ago. Also checked the accuracy of the temperature dial to 2 different thermometers. I bought a Taylor, and found a Farberware my wife had forgotten she had. First off, the Taylor and Farberware thermometers were different by about 12°. So which ones right ???? Another SWAG. So, shooting for the 400° mark, the two thermometers read; Taylor 395°, and the Farberware read about 407°. Here's the kicker though. I had to turn the dial on the toaster oven to "max", all the way to 450°. Yesterday I preheated the oven and put in 20 Lee 452-225 tc boolits to see if they were going to melt. They survived the heat. Smokes is sending the powder tomorrow. Hopefully get it by the end of the week. Impatiently waiting.

[hc18flyer]

12 degrees wouldn't make any difference. I can relate to being impatient! I think I will go find the materials to build a stand for a press that hasn't been shipped yet!
HA! hc18flyer

[littlejack]

Lol. Yeah, I understand.
I built my stand back in the early 80's. It is square tubing, and it telescopes. But, I only use it setting down. I built it to originally to accept the RCBS Jr. press and a MEC shotshell press. Then I drilled it to accept my Rockchucker lV press.Then a couple years later, I fabricated a head for it to accept my Dillon SDB press. Works like a champ. A lot better than a bench, and I can position it exactly where I want it.

[littlejack]

Ok, ok. I couldn't wait till the end of the week. Harbor Freight called me. I bought a bottle of white, and a bottle of matt black. Came back and went to work. Used one light teaspoon of each, black and white. Everything went as planned. The powder coverage was thin, so I coated them a second time. Came out a dull dark gray. Actually, looked pretty nice. Sized them to .452. Maybe do some tomorrow for the practice. Looking forward to the good stuff from Smokes. Thank you all again for the expierienced input and advice.

[coaldust]

I built a PID controller that I can use for oven temp control and I also use it for temp control when making shine (I mean lawnmower fuel).
I found the build instructions on "Barley and hops" web site.
Good luck with your powder coating.

[littlejack]

I received the three sample "ziplock" bags from Smokes today. Signal Blue, Carolina Blue, and OD Green. I did warm up the boolits (just able to hold in my hand) before shake'n & bake'n. That made a nice even coat. They turned out beautiful. I pc'd some Carolina Blue, and some mixed with OD Green. Very satisfied with the results. Tomorrow, do some Signal Blue, and finish the batch with OD Green. What fun.

[reedap1]

Wait until you start shooting the bullets...I put 900 rounds of 158-grain cast PC'd bullets through my S&W 357 Mag model 66 and when I realized how many times I shot it since the last cleaning and I thought...damn, I better clean this gun.

One pass with Hoppes #9 and a clean patch showed some "heavy gray" material on the patch. Then next Hoppes soaking showed a "light gray" material on the patch. Subsequent patches showed almost nothing. I looked to make sure that the bore was not plugged! and ran my borescope down the barrel and saw nothing but pristine rifling and no sign of fouling or leading.

Not sure now that I will clean it for a couple of years...it has been a game changer for me.

Good luck,

Paul

[popper]

HF white did OK but went on thick ( I was spraying at the time), 40sw. HF red worked for TL, barely. Black only sprayed and was dismal.

[littlejack]

Looking forward to the clean bore, and minimal smoke. When I mixed the HF black and white, it came out a dark gray. Looking closer it has a resemblance to a dark granite. I did have to do a second coat. I did try the white by itself. Coating was minimal, even after a second coat.

[Iowa Fox]

You don't have to spend a lot of money to powder coat. Get a sample pack from smoke, follow his instructions, think simple and you will get perfect results.

[littlejack]

Iowa Fox
That's purdy much what I did. Didn't receive any instructions with the sample pack from Smokes. I followed the advice and
reccomendations from the members. The powder coat came out very nice.

[charlie b]

This is the best write up on shake and bake PC that I've seen.

https://www.mp-molds.com/tipstricks/powder-coating-lead-bullets-dry-tumble-dt-method/

[littlejack]

Went to the range yesterday (Thursday) to try out some more of my powder coated boolits. Again, I am very appreciative of all the help getting started from the members. The last month or so, I've been playing with a 45acp 234 grain ball boolit. I have changed the ogive from round nose to flat point to shorten up the col of the loaded round. The powder charge I use is 5.4 grains of HP-38. This load gives a velocity average of 850 fps. The powder coating does a great job, leaving zero leading in the bore.
This Tuesday last, I cast and powder coated some Ideal 412174 boolits for my 41 magnum. This boolit was originally designed for the Ballard 40-70 or 40-75 black powder rifle cartridges. These boolits weigh in at 255.5 +/- average. I double coated these ones. I stoked them with a heavy charge of Win. 296. I also powder coated my Lee 45-255 rnfp. I shot these in my Winchester 94AE Trapper. The condition of the bores after shooting, was outstanding. The Win. 94AE could be compared with a mirror. This bore shoots clean with the boolits being greased, but the powder coated looks as though nothing went down the bore. The .41 magnum rounds were fired in my RSB Hunter w/ 7.5 barrell. Again, the powder coating did its job, another bright shiny bore. Looks like i'm hooked. Great day at the range.

[Charlie Horse]

I used a standard dial thermometer. It told me I have to set the dial at 350 in order to get the oven at 400 degrees.

The biggest thing that has helped my PC'ing, and something I don't see mentioned here, is to set-up baffles in my oven, and to insulate the boolits from the bottom of the pan. This keeps the heating elements from radiating directly onto the boolits.
-I placed two 1/4" rods on the oven pan then put a metal tray on top of the rods. Foil, then boolits go on top of the metal tray. This keeps the bottom heating element from radiating directly onto the piece of metal the boolits are seating on.
-The top shelf in the oven is covered with thin metal/heavy foil. This keeps the top heating element from radiating directly onto the boolits.

This allows the boolits to get heated with ambient heat instead of radiant.

[littlejack]

Thanks for the tips. My heat setting works fine to where it is adjusted. I don't see any reason to change my procedure, as my boolits come out really nice.