simple Hi-Tek coating

[Ausglock]

220. take your temp up to 200deg C.
My trays hold about 250 9mm bullets. I use 7mls for this many and bake 1 tray at a time for 10 minutes.
green, red/copper/ gold. thay all work for 10 minutes. only the reds need 12 minutes.

Be aware that 2 trays at once may not get the alloy hot enough to cure the coating to to bullets.

[Moonman]

220,

I don't believe it's necessary to have the coatings INTO ALL THE LUBE GROOVES.

The surface that touches the barrel is what counts. (not like conventional lubes that comes out of the grooves).

Some are using molds with NO LUBE GROOVES.

If you're taking 3 to 4 times to coat, you're COATING TOO LIGHTLY.

Especially using the Lee Tumble Lube 38 bullets that are being coated.

[Moonman]

TES,

Looks like there is a Smash test,

AND THEN THERE IS "SMASH" test.

I just give a GOOD SQUEEZE in the bench vise to smash.

BAKING Temp is effected by ALTITUDE, what is the elevation of your city?

Have you tried the suggested ALOX TUMBLE LUBING of YOUR bullets

and YOUR FIREARMS to see YOUR LEADING CONDITION THERE?

[prickett]

my casting style video link.

Trev,
Nice setup/process you have going there!

It looks like you have two furnaces? Are you dumping from the top one into the lower one at 2:00? Are you dumping your sprues into the top one?

You should demand a commission from Lee! I'm thinking I need a second pot and set of molds.

[TES]

TES,

Looks like there is a Smash test,

AND THEN THERE IS "SMASH" test.

I just give a GOOD SQUEEZE in the bench vise to smash.

BAKING Temp is effected by ALTITUDE, what is the elevation of your city?

Have you tried the suggested ALOX TUMBLE LUBING of YOUR bullets

and YOUR FIREARMS to see YOUR LEADING CONDITION THERE?

I have smashed these to the size of a quarter in the past (right after getting them) and no flaking. Now they flake.

I have accounted for altitude by trying many different bake times and temps.
Even so BB were made by BB and they failed. The first hammer strike generally sends flakes flying.

[Love Life]

Cut your fingernails!!

[TES]

LMAO....that's funny right there.

[Love Life]

Couldn't help myself.

I whack my bullets with an 8 lb sledge hammer. It squishes them real nice like with one blow. I wonder if your repeated whacking may have skewed your results?

Regardless, the coating should not scrape off with a fingernail.

[jmort]

Well at least you could easily clean off the coating and ES PC them.

[TES]

Well at least you could easily clean off the coating and ES PC them.

You have to much faith in my fingernail sir!

[Gateway Bullets]

Tes,

I can understand your frustration. I coated all summer and fall without a single problem. Once winter hit the coated started to fail. It wasnt the coating, it was water in my acetone causing poor curing and was not the fault of Hi-Tec.

I know you're pulling your hair out over this stuff. But it is better to talk to BB and HT before bringing it to a blog. Just a courtesy thing.

[220]

2.5kg per bake equals 250 158gr, 370 105gr, 210 180gr so I may be a little a little light on the coating but not by much.
Thought it would be better to go to light than heavy to start with.
With one tray (1.25kg) I could see colour change after 3min baking, oven temp must be very even as those on the outside would change first and it would take about 30sec for the entire tray to change. Baking 2 trays it was taking about a minute longer before I saw a change in colour hence why I increased the time instead of temp. The smart oven is great, set the desired temp and time and it beeps when the temp is reached, I put the boolits in at this point, it then beeps again and shuts of after the selected time, I pull them out at the beep. You can see the 5 elements almost pulsing during the bake time to keep the temp constant, coming on to a dull glow before switching off again.
Once the oven has reached the set temp they don't come fully on unless you leave the door open and get a big temp drop.
Only trouble with it is it sat on the kitchen bench for 2 weeks before it went into the shed for baking boolits and now the wife and kids want one fore the kitchen. lol
Realise coating in the grooves isn't needed but one of the attractions with HiTek for me was pretty boolits.
With the wipe test I have been rubbing the base of a boolit with a rag damp with acetone about 40 times, one tray at a time or 12min is giving zero colour on the rag, those that failed were giving me some colour and I could see the coating getting thinner on the boolits, not wiping off completely but a noticeable thinning.

Still happy with the results for my first attempt





158FP 180NOE HP 3 coats red/copper 105swc 2 coats blue/green 105 158 3 coats blue/green

[prickett]

Tes,

I can understand your frustration. I coated all summer and fall without a single problem. Once winter hit the coated started to fail. It wasnt the coating, it was water in my acetone causing poor curing and was not the fault of Hi-Tec.

I know you're pulling your hair out over this stuff. But it is better to talk to BB and HT before bringing it to a blog. Just a courtesy thing.

Gateway, can you elaborate on the water/acetone bit? Are there best practices to follow to avoid/prevent this? How do you know for certain this is a problem (versus something else being the cause)?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks

[Love Life]

Just let your bullets dry fully. Don't rush it. Mine usually dry overnight, or at the minimum an hour.

Once you get the cycle going you can coat many bullets very fast-ish.

[Gateway Bullets]

I had purchased another brand of acetone and the coating went to ****! Bugged the powers to be and that's what we came up with. Switched back to my original brand and problem solved.

When I baked the projectiles you could see a whitish almost oxidized look. It was pinholes in the coating. I had also spilt some on the top of the can and it left a white powder behind. HT had said the moisture most likely turned the alk or acidic (don't remember) and caused the residue.

[Love Life]

I use the walmart acetone. It's in a blue and yellow can.

[HI-TEK]

I had purchased another brand of acetone and the coating went to ****! Bugged the powers to be and that's what we came up with. Switched back to my original brand and problem solved.

When I baked the projectiles you could see a whitish almost oxidized look. It was pinholes in the coating. I had also spilt some on the top of the can and it left a white powder behind. HT had said the moisture most likely turned the alk or acidic (don't remember) and caused the residue.

Gateway,
Thanks for input.
Pinholing, and or miniature craters during and after cure is typically symptoms of following
1. In adequate Drying
2. Coating applied too thickly.
3. Solvent has not been stored correctly allowing absorption of moisture, ( or wrong solvent).
4. Or... all three above combined

That is one reason, why it is recommended, that application of especially the first coatings(Key Coat) is done very sparingly and thin.
Allowed to thoroughly dry before cooking.
Once baked and tested for adhesion, only then, apply subsequent coats.
IMPORTANT NOTES
Applying second or multiple coats will not repair or fix problems with failure of adhesion with first coat.
Such activity to try and "fix" the problem by reheating multiple coating on top of a failed first coat is totally useless.
Also reheating, or increased heating with original coat, will not fix initial poor adhesion problems, as once coating has "set", there is no remedial fix for adhesion, aside from re-melting.

Once coating has been subjected to temperatures of around 350F or onward, this heat will "set" the coating and extra heat will not fix adhesion problems, as coating after such heating, becomes infusible and will not be reactivated to get it to stick to surfaces.
Hope suggestions help..

FOOT NOTE
With moisture pick up of Acetone, and coating moisture entrapment, does not harm the coating.
All it does is slow down process of drying.
It is simply a case of , do not rush drying.
It is very difficult to dry things in cold wet conditions, and users must take into consideration conditions when coating and drying, to ensure that all is well before cooking.
My suggestion is before doing large scale cooks, just cook a few first, and ascertain if coatings are sticking to alloy with first coat .
If all is OK with smash & wipe tests, then continue too cook the rest.

[TES]

ok I'm gonna try a longer dry time. We will see.

[Ausglock]

220... Mate. looks great.
Now load them up and have some fun...

Prickett.
yes. refilling the bottom from the top.

I load ingots into the top pot and use it to re-fill the bottom working pot.
The sprues go into the working pot as they are still hot.
With running 3, 6 cav molds, it doesn't take long to run up 1000 bullets. I tried it with 2 molds, but they would overheat.
I run 370 to 380 deg C ( about 700 Deg F) for 2,6,92 alloy. this gives good fillout.

The filled molds rest on a piece of steel to cool. this acts like a heat sink.

I pre-heat my molds on a small hotplate, so the first bullets out of the molds are keepers.

Please Mr. Magma Engineering. Please send me a Mark 8 Auto caster....please???????

TES.
I smash 2 ways.
I smash one top down to about 4mm thick with multiple blows from a claw hammer and then lay one on its side and do the same thing.

No flaking.

[Gateway Bullets]

ok I'm gonna try a longer dry time. We will see.

Tes,

Actually I lied! You have to shake, coat, and bake your coating while upside down!!!!!! Its the only way you can get that upside down snake oil to work! Lol lol lol