Eastwood Powder Gold?

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Okay, I have been coating with Eastwood powders for a while now. All the ones I have used have a slick, almost waxy finish to the final coating. I have been especially pleased with the Ford Light Blue and the Chrome. I decided to try their Powder gold, and I am running into some issues. Not with it coating badly or anything. One coat will get me a light gold, uniform coating. Two coats will get a solid, brassy gold finish. The problem is that it feels rough on the finished bullets. Not smooth and slick like the other colors have. I tried adding some of the chrome powder coat to a batch, and it ended up with a mostly silver, with hints of gold finish. That was also not slick like the others. Is this simply a texture thing? Is it okay to use these like any other coated bullet? Or is there something in the Powder Gold color that might hurt my barrel? I will try to post pictures in daylight tomorrow.

-Mb

[358429]

Do they look really cool

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[gun toting monkeyboy]

Looking cool is great and all. But I am mostly doing this as a way of lubricating bullets. What I really need to know is if they will work for that.

[bangerjim]

As long as you have the clear polymer base coating in the gold mix 100% coating the lead you are good for protection. Look under STRONG magnification and you may see gaps in the gold pigment, but the clear coat will be there! Anything more that one coat of any brand type powder is a total waste of time in my book. We are doing this for no grease lube/smoke shooting, and not a technicolor beauty pageant!

Metallics coat differently than solid pigments. I never use them for that reason. I stick to solid blue, green, red, (sometimes yellow) and black powders for everything and forget about the fancy-Nancy shiny coatings so many try for. With the 4 primary colors of solids, you can make any solid color on the wheel!

Been doin' this PC thing since 2013 and I have tired everything in the book! I do NOT use metallic powders.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

I did the second coating to see if it changed the texture and color. Normally I don't bother. I don't particularly care about the color, and will normally add a bit of this and a bit of that as I process batches. It gets me a nice mixture of related colors without uniformity. And I had that exact experience with their copper penny looking splotchy, but clear coating the entire bullet. The chrome actually does coat like the other colors, and ends up with a nice, smooth, shiny silver coating. Or a shiny metallic of whatever color I supplement it with. So I get some really nice metallic blues, reds and purples. The gold gives me the same uniform coating, but without the slick feel. I cut it with some of the chrome, and even with less than 1/3 chrome, I am basically getting a chrome-colored bullet with hints of gold highlights. And none of the slick finish. I took the chrome up to 3/4, and it still didn't get that slick finish. While the color itself is nice, and it coats with less mess than anything else I have gotten from Eastwood, I don't know if I will be repeating this color. The good news is that these bullets are hard cast .45s, so the chances of them leading, even without a coating are low.

-Mb

[Burnt Fingers]

Not all powders will give a smooth shiny coating. Some are designed to give a textured finish.

I prefer to use powders with at least an 85% gloss rating.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Update:

The powder gold coating does NOT work for coating the bullets. Nor do the coatings with it mixed in with other colors that normally work. I went to size the finished bullets by running them through a lee sizing die after giving them a quick spray of Lee case lube. The coating scraped off completely, exposing bare lead on every bullet I ran through the sizing die. I have never had anything remotely similar happen with any other Eastwood powder coat. Fortunately, I was able to salvage the remainder of the batch by just recoating them with a normal Eastwood powder coat. The ones that has been sprayed with the case lube ended up getting a coating of Lee Liquid Alox. Not ideal, but still completely usable.

-Mb

[Finster101]

Are you sure the gold does not need a different curing temperature and time?

[GregLaROCHE]

Are you sure you baked them hot enough and long enough? Were they completely grease and oil free? I’ve heard it said that some powders only work when using the electrostatic method and a spray gun.

[358429]

That's awful it didn't work. So far I've used Ultra gloss clear, Ford light blue, and lime green, all Eastwood powders.

The only failures I have had was not applying the powder heavy enough. It made the powder come off in little chips when sizing, I could remove the powder coat skin with a fingernail.

I apply my powder by shaking the bullets inside of a plastic lunch box I bought at the grocery store in a 3-pack, with the number 5 inside the triangle on the bottom.

I preheat the oven confirm the temperature with a thermometer 400-420 degrees Fahrenheit. I place the bullets in a single layer if I can on a tray/basket I made out of quarter inch steel mesh hardware cloth and take them out after 30 minutes in the oven.

How are you applying the powder and cooking it?

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[bangerjim]

Are you sure you baked them hot enough and long enough? Were they completely grease and oil free? I’ve heard it said that some powders only work when using the electrostatic method and a spray gun.

That's why I invested in 2 ESPC guns several years ago. The guns will apply ANY type/brand/style of powder.......because that is what the powders are engineered for.....not a plastic box shaken by the light of the moon with your mouth held just right.

I have not found a powder yet that will not coat 100% ( in any weather under any moon light with any shape of mouth!) using ESPC guns. I just do not use metallic powders because I do not like the look.

banger

[gun toting monkeyboy]

They were baked at the same temperature, with the same ovens, for the same length of time as I have been doing with all of the other powder coatings. My standard procedure is to shake the bullets in a disposable ziplock brand plastic container for 30-40 seconds. The give them a shaking in a sieve to remove the excess powder. They go on a baking tray in a single layer on non-stick aluminum foil, and get put in a toaster oven for a half hour. The temperature stays pretty constant at between 395-405 degrees (per the thermometers put in them, and visible through the glass). They are pulled out and allowed to cool. I have spent the last 3 months processing about 15,000 bullets that several of us made when we were let loose in a local bullet-making factory. So I and the other people who come over to help out have this down to a fine science. With two toaster ovens, we can process 3-4,000 bullets in an afternoon. None of the other colors had any issues like this. All of them sized just fine, without losing their coating. All of the others coatings were either pure Eastwood powders, or mixes of Eastwood powders when we either switched powders or got bored. All of the other colors have held up to the smash test just fine. This powder gold simply didn't work for this.

[oldsman]

I had no problem just have to have a heavy coat , I use a vibe tumbler

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Was it the Powder Gold color? Because the ones I did two coats on had a very pronounced yellow gold color. And have those been sized yet?

[oldsman]

hotcoat powder coat gold , this the only color listed under gold and they are sized
in the photo color looks darker then in person and it is a matt finish

here is another view

[oldsman]

the ones in the bins are some other mixes I tried this all eastwood
center is 70 % orange 30 copper metallic , copper metallic does not work by itself dos not flow out
the reddish color is 50 50 mirror red copper vein
green is 50 50 mirror green and cream
I did some mirror black and cream it has the cookies and cream ice cream look

[oldsman]

you may see some water droplets on the bullets , I dump in water right out of the oven

[reddog81]

They were baked at the same temperature, with the same ovens, for the same length of time as I have been doing with all of the other powder coatings. My standard procedure is to shake the bullets in a disposable ziplock brand plastic container for 30-40 seconds. The give them a shaking in a sieve to remove the excess powder. They go on a baking tray in a single layer on non-stick aluminum foil, and get put in a toaster oven for a half hour. The temperature stays pretty constant at between 395-405 degrees (per the thermometers put in them, and visible through the glass). They are pulled out and allowed to cool. I have spent the last 3 months processing about 15,000 bullets that several of us made when we were let loose in a local bullet-making factory. So I and the other people who come over to help out have this down to a fine science. With two toaster ovens, we can process 3-4,000 bullets in an afternoon. None of the other colors had any issues like this. All of them sized just fine, without losing their coating. All of the others coatings were either pure Eastwood powders, or mixes of Eastwood powders when we either switched powders or got bored. All of the other colors have held up to the smash test just fine. This powder gold simply didn't work for this.

That's all great, but the powder didn't cure correctly. Like Finster101 said - you should verify the bake time and temp. Something obviously went wrong if the powder is coming loose.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

Yes, something went wrong. However, I am thinking it has more to do with that batch of powder than it does with the procedure. When the temperature and bake times are verified and consistent, using several different thermometers by different manufacturers, and the results have likewise been consistent with lots of other colors by the same manufacturer, the only variable is the specific batch of powder.

[mto7464]

I have some of eastwoods Cooper metallic that I got for 5 dollars, long story. Like you said it does not cover uniform like solid colors but you can tell they are covered with the polymer but just not as good as I like, I don't think I will use it again and stick with the solid colors or maybe mix it. It does not flake off.