hiteck newbie. Am wondering if i mix up too much solution (powder and mek) can the extra be saved in some kind of a jar for future use?
Going to start out with very small batches, like 10 bullets till I get it figured out.
thanks
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hiteck newbie. Am wondering if i mix up too much solution (powder and mek) can the extra be saved in some kind of a jar for future use?
Going to start out with very small batches, like 10 bullets till I get it figured out.
thanks
The issue with mixing the chemicals is if you do not use it immediately or have a tight seal you’ll eventually start to lose a part of the mixture to evaporation. If you haven’t tried powder coating it is far easier. No measuring or mixing
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I got these bottles at Walmart, in a kit for tie dying in the crafts aisle.
A little Teflon tape on the threads keeps them from evaporating. And I cut the recipe in half when I mix, which fills these bottles almost completely. Each bottle will coat 30-40 pounds of bullets twice, depending on the size. Bigger, heavier slugs have less surface area per pound, so you'll get more done vs smaller, lighter ones.
If you let it sit long term, like for months, you'll want to shake it occasionally, to keep the powder from settling and solidifying. These have been in there since last year, and it'll be some work to get them mixed up again. But I have no noticeable evaporation.
Even if I end up throwing some of it away, who cares. A tub of powder will probably coat 10k-20k bullets. I've coated a lot and I've barely put a dent in the powder.
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I use the Rubbermaid mixer mates. I’ve used solution 6 months after mixing without any issue. You just have to shake it to remix before use.
Also, 10 bullets at a time is going to be harder than it needs to be. You'll need so little mixture that you'll have a hard time getting a consistent coat because there's not enough liquid to hit all the bullets, and if you use more mixture, you'll get too thick a coating.
With the standard recipe, you need about a milliliter per pound of lead, slightly more for little 9mm bullets, slightly less for big, heavy 45 Colt, due to the difference in surface area per pound).
The way HiTek works is the acetone evaporates, leaving all of the added powder stuck to the bullets. The more you add, the thicker the coating. Too thick and it won't cure well. Your first coat should be super thin.
10 bullets also won't behave the same in the oven. They'll cook faster without 5lbs of lead around them acting as a heat sink. Hot spots in the oven will have a bigger impact on each bullet. In the same way that a 20lb pot maintains a more stable temperature than a 10lb pot when casting, because the mass of liquid lead acts as it's own damper on temp fluctuations. Cooking 10 bullets will give you the same inconsistencies as casting with a 2lb pot, where temps would fluctuate with each pour.
In the end, whatever you figure out that works with 10 bullets won't scale up to 5lbs of bullets. And 4-5 pounds seems to be the smallest batch size that really makes HiTek easy.
I went through this same thought process when I first started too. I didn't want to "waste" a batch of bullets I had worked so hard to make. I even winced a little on the smash test, because that's one less bullet that I could load. I had to get over it.
My process:
Make about 20lbs or so of bullets.
Weigh out about 5lbs in a plastic salad bowl with lid.
Mix with a little more acetone than the recipe calls for (I'm in Texas, the stuff evaporates fast in the dry heat).
Put about 4 squirts from my bottle in the bucket, close the lid, and swirl for about 30 seconds to get coverage.
Pop the lid and swirl until the acetone has evaporated, it only takes a couple seconds.
Pour into a wire-mesh tray and shake to spread out. They should still look mostly gray, the costing should be very thin and see through. If you think it's not enough, it's probably enough.
I stand them all up for pistol bullets, so they're not touching and they get consistent airflow.
Set them on top of the oven while it heats up, to dry.
Take an uncoated bullet and drill a hole in the bottom for the temp probe. Stick the probe in and pinch with pliers to close around the probe.
Put the probe on the tray with the bullets, near the center.
When the oven has reached 400F, put the tray in.
I set my probe for 180C. When the alarm goes off, I set a timer on my phone for 3 minutes, and watch the probe temp. As long as it doesn't drop below 180C during that 3 minutes it's good.
Take them out and set on a baking rack to cool to room temp.
That's it. Repeat for multiple coats. It takes 8-9 minutes to cook in my oven.
If it gets too hot or stays in the oven too long the coating is still good, they'll just be darker in color.
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Great responses, thanks alot.
I figure 10 bullets to start, can't imagine having to throw some bullets away.
Going to be starting to learn this process coating 50cal 450 & 530 grain slugs.
I do have a digital multi meter probe that I use in my oven.
Ryan, great looking bullets. Not sure what you were talking about when you mentioned "3minutes".
I understand the 8 or9 minutes.
Thanks all.
Drop a bullet or two in your bottle to aid in mixing them up. Like Dsltech1 I have mixes over 6 months old and they still work fine. I have never taken the time to stand bullets up, just spread them in a single layer.
Ovens vary, ambient temperatures vary, and trying to time it from start to finish in a little convection oven takes a lot of trial and error (read: throwaway bullets). I was asking the guy on here who made HiTek, and what he said was actually the important thing wasn't the overall cook time. The important thing is that the internal temperature of the bullets reach 180C and stay there for at least 3 minutes.Originally Posted by hard88cast
So I stopped trying to time the whole bake. It doesn't matter how long the bullets take to get up to temp, whether it's 5 minutes or 5 hours. The coating bonds when the lead is held at 180C for at least 3 minutes. So I use a throwback bullet with the probe stuck in it to measure the internal temp of the bullets. When it hits 180C, I set a timer for 3 minutes, and when it goes off, I pull them out. Perfect bond and great color every time.
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store your mixed coating in the fridge. I usually mix 4 or 5 jars at a time and only take out of te fridge when needed. No evap and no colour change.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Australia
To those of you who are saying "throw away bullets", are you saying with hitek if something doesn't work out right with the coating, the bullets cant be melted down and used again? Just curious, have been reading a little on hitek lately and haven't ran across that yet.
Just re-melt them if you need to. I am a big Hi-Tek fan. If you happen to overbake them the color will change but the coating is fine.
I have always used dish soap bottles with the snap on spout they seal really well, so the coating is good for months without any loss of acetone.
Thanks for all the info.
Ryan thanks for explaining, sounds like the ideal way to measure the bullet temp.
They absolutely can be remelted. But you can't get cured coating off any other way, not with anything. Remelt is all you can do. And the coating doesn't burn in the pot, either. You have to skim the jackets off the top like you do with copper.
By throwaway, I just mean they go in the pile to get recast.
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Thank you for clarifying.
never tried to melt any hitek coated down yet, i did not realize that the coating did not meltdown!
That is one thing that sets Hi-Tek apart from all other coatings as the other coatings burn and stink when melted.
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