Powder Coating 101 - Electrostatic Method

[Beagle333]

I'm imagining it to look a little bit like a Hershey's Kiss? You got pitchers?

[C. Latch]

I'm imagining it to look a little bit like a Hershey's Kiss? You got pitchers?

Not nearly as pretty as a Hershey's kiss, but yes, that's the idea. You can literally do this with scraps of foil.

A coat of powder have pretty much glued these to the base foil, but you can sort of see here. Bullets are NOE 452-230s:




Here's one from another scrap of foil. Bullets on tray are NOE 311-165s.

[C. Latch]

Another thing I noticed today:

I did several trays, and on one of them I forgot to hook the pigtail to the tray to charge it. I could not tell a drop of difference in the way the bullets were coated.

Maybe we'd all be just as well off with simple blow guns that attack directly to an air line, no 'es' needed?

[Beagle333]

Those 311-165s are awesome, aren't they!

I can really tell a difference when I'm not stepping on the pedal. My powder just blows right by the boolits and I cannot get them to coat on the lower 2/3 for anything..... until I notice that I'm not stepping on the pedal.

[C. Latch]

Those 311-165s are awesome, aren't they!

I can really tell a difference when I'm not stepping on the pedal. My powder just blows right by the boolits and I cannot get them to coat on the lower 2/3 for anything..... until I notice that I'm not stepping on the pedal.

I haven't got to shoot them on paper yet, but I've got a decent amount of them loaded up and ready to go.

When I coat the bottom of my bullets always coats last, but it doesn't bother me with the 311-165 in washers they're spaced well enough that they coat pretty quickly, with pistol bullets most of them are upside down anyway and I've decided that I really don't even care if the bottom (which is the nose) is coated anyway. As long as I have a solid coat on the driving bands, the nose and the lube grooves can be completely bare and it doesn't bother me.

If one doesn't have a complete coat, I just rub a dab of lube on it and load it anyway.

[Beagle333]

I cast and coated about 500 today. All in HF red. About half and half of:
358429


and 38-162-SWC (These will get gas checks)


All got one spray, one bake of 400 degrees for 20 mins.
And I didn't knock a single one over when moving the trays!


I scored a pound of W296 at the LGS... I'm gonna light these babies up!

[kbstenberg]

Beagle333 You couldn't tip anything over being packed that close together.

[StromBusa]

I don't have a video. I just have an old Sony DCS-T50 flipcam with a "micro" setting that I use to take most of my pictures. But the key to getting a good coating on the bottom driving band is to have enough room between the boolits (I use a 3/4" spacing) and spray from all sides. If you only did 9mm, they could be close and if you only did .45, 'maybe might need a little more, but for me the 3/4 is a great all-around grid. I spray from all 4 sides of my tray with a sweeping motion and aim for the bases. I don't walk around the table with the cord and hose, and I have to stand on the switch, so I just reach over and to each side and spray from all directions, but at an angle. The HF gun will spray upside down for 8-10 seconds at a time while I reach over, especially with a slight flip or tap to keep the powder agitated while spraying.

I know that a lot of folks don't want to mess with the nuts under the foil, but I find that I get a great coat all the way to the bottom and even some wrap-around effect from having the boolit elevated just a little bit. This lets me know that the contact surfaces are all coated in nice slippery polyester.

Is that 3/4" center to center spacing or 3/4" clearance between rows? (Nice Job)

[Beagle333]

(thanks)
Center to center.

[w0fms]

The local Menards has a Pizza Oven on sale for $40. I'm tempted to hook a PID up to it (since the temp control is fixed in it) and some sort of fan to turn it into a convection oven.. but man, you could probably do 400-500 at a time in it...

I suppose the cost when added all up would be prohibitive tho...

Anyone use an old pizza oven?

[bangerjim]

I do about 300 at a time (every 10-12 minutes) in my 4 rack little convection oven. That is fast enough for me!!!!!!! I cannot shoot them that fast!
Unless you are doing a commercial venture, that is a ton of boolits!

banger

[ipijohn]

I had an interesting thing happen yesterday; I have ESPC coated 8 or 10 thousand boolits in the last six months with powder from several different sources in many colors of the rainbow. Yesterday I loaded my gun with some silver powder that I purchased from All Powder Paints. After about 5 seconds of coating I got too close to my rack and got a spark which ignited a fire ball about 12 inches in diameter at the end of my gun. I immediately quit spraying and moved the gun back, the fire ball went out. Has anyone else had this happen to them or is it the batch of powder that I used?

[TheDoctor]

Not yet for me, but some dust when suspended in the air is flammable or explosive. Take a pinch of flour and drop it over a candle flame...

[bangerjim]

ANY product in a fine dust condition and mixed with the right amount of air will become a combustable mixture!

Yet.........our guns spark on a regular basis while coating and I have NEVER had or heard of this happening. It must be that Al dust content for pigment as popper said above. I used to use Al powder to make explosive "bangers" as a kid. Makes great flash powder.

Question......why are you coating silver-looking lead with a sliver-looking powder???????

Just asking!

banger

[Beagle333]

Question......why are you coating silver-looking lead with a sliver-looking powder???????

I don't know why he's doing it, but I bet several folks would be interested in the results. I have read about ranges and cowboy shoots who won't allow PC. If it was silver, they wouldn't know.

[AverageJoe]

I thought about silver then decided to go with a durable slick clear. I still get the lead look and all the benefits of PC. Kinda glad about the clear....no fireballs. By the way, the clear is performing the same as the standard PC...outstanding.

[Oreo]

Which clear are you using? There's a bunch of them.

[Beagle333]

I'd like to give the clear a try too. Source?

[Faret]

Question......why are you coating silver-looking lead with a sliver-looking powder???????

Just asking!

banger

Maybe he has a werewolf problem?

[Beetmagnet]

Here's a few "Easter egg" bullets I made for the wife. I'm not one to talk crassly, but these silly colored bullets have got me laid twice now.