Wet powder coating?

[gnappi]

I have done a few batches and had less than wonderful results.

All needed a second coat after baking with powders that work great with the dry shake method. They also came out lumpy. This is faster than SnB so the lumps really don't matter but I would like better coverage the first time.

Anyone had results as good as SnB?

[hornetguy]

I have done a few batches and had less than wonderful results.

All needed a second coat after baking with powders that work great with the dry shake method. They also came out lumpy. This is faster than SnB so the lumps really don't matter but I would like better coverage the first time.

Anyone had results as good as SnB?

Faster than SnB? How could it be any faster? It takes me about a minute to shake my bullets in a plastic tub.

Now, if I do them in a tumbler, that adds about 15 minutes to the process, but shaking is pretty quick.

[sierra1911]

Wet powder coating was discussed at length a decade ago:
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...Piglet-Method&

[hornetguy]

Thanks for the link.....

Perhaps there have been new developments and techniques in the last 10 years...

[gnappi]

Thanks for the link.....

Perhaps there have been new developments and techniques in the last 10 years...

Yes, there has...

I spent ALL DAY today coating bullets but NOT the closed container shake and bake (SnB) as I'm 100% comfortable with that process with my powders and results. What I did was follow all of the advice I read online for WET coating them and decided to experiment a bit and wound up with a pretty good solution to making bullets faster than I could with either the WET or shake and bake methods.

Before coating I size my bullets because my .38 cal molds cast to just over.360 and they are hard to push through a .357 Star Die. You can imagine the workout I get sizing them so today I sprayed them first with Frankford Arsenal bullet lube, let them dry and then sized them.

Using a Folgers #2 coffee container, I dumped the bullets in and agitated them without the top on for 20 seconds or so, in my yard, in full sun and the paint stuck like glue. Here's the kicker, any powder that does not stick to the bullets stays on the bottom of the container and will stick to the next batch!!! But would the paint stick after baking them?

So, I unceremoniously dumped them into an open aluminum baking pan, shook the pan for a few seconds, baked them ~@425 degrees for 20 minutes, and let them air cool... without a water quench because I quenched the bullets when I cast them last fall.

I smashed a few totally flat into bullet coins and the PC stayed on perfectly and the coverage is excellent, better than the shake and bake method. As a matter of fact, the grey paint I used had failed me terribly with the SnB method, but I decided to see how good this adhesion method really is. So, on a lark I dropped a bullet into the grey paint storage bag and it came out like a fuzzy Gerbil!

It takes only a few minutes to make a big batch, and I'll test them as soon as I can in my revolvers.

[gnappi]

Faster than SnB? How could it be any faster? It takes me about a minute to shake my bullets in a plastic tub.

Now, if I do them in a tumbler, that adds about 15 minutes to the process, but shaking is pretty quick.

Yes, with SnB if I let them lie down in the pan with a silicone mat, the paint dribbles and sticks to the mat so I stand every one up, and it takes a LOT of time. The method above is faster by a LOT for me.

[hornetguy]

So, you are saying the powder is sticking to the leftover, dried lube?

[gnappi]

Dunno, I'm sizing them with the dried lube and sizing "should" wipe it away, but the powders I've tried seem to stick and stay adhered to the bullet nose and the sides.

I just did two coats of a teal color because it came out light out of the oven, and after cooling the PC stuck to the freshly coated bullets too. Smash test held up.

Even if I had to coat twice, not having to stand bullets up to bake is a small price to pay.

[William Yanda]

". without a water quench because I quenched the bullets when I cast them last fall."

I suspect that heating to 425 negates last fall's water quench effects.
Respectfully,
Bill

[Rickf1985]

Yes, there has...

I spent ALL DAY today coating bullets but NOT the closed container shake and bake (SnB) as I'm 100% comfortable with that process with my powders and results. What I did was follow all of the advice I read online for WET coating them and decided to experiment a bit and wound up with a pretty good solution to making bullets faster than I could with either the WET or shake and bake methods.

Before coating I size my bullets because my .38 cal molds cast to just over.360 and they are hard to push through a .357 Star Die. You can imagine the workout I get sizing them so today I sprayed them first with Frankford Arsenal bullet lube, let them dry and then sized them.

Using a Folgers #2 coffee container, I dumped the bullets in and agitated them without the top on for 20 seconds or so, in my yard, in full sun and the paint stuck like glue. Here's the kicker, any powder that does not stick to the bullets stays on the bottom of the container and will stick to the next batch!!! But would the paint stick after baking them?

So, I unceremoniously dumped them into an open aluminum baking pan, shook the pan for a few seconds, baked them ~@425 degrees for 20 minutes, and let them air cool... without a water quench because I quenched the bullets when I cast them last fall.

I smashed a few totally flat into bullet coins and the PC stayed on perfectly and the coverage is excellent, better than the shake and bake method. As a matter of fact, the grey paint I used had failed me terribly with the SnB method, but I decided to see how good this adhesion method really is. So, on a lark I dropped a bullet into the grey paint storage bag and it came out like a fuzzy Gerbil!

It takes only a few minutes to make a big batch, and I'll test them as soon as I can in my revolvers.

First off keep in mind I have never powder coated so this is all new info for me but I se the title mentions wet coating and that is it, no explanation, no details other than it generally does not work.
Apparently your method works quite well but you mention paint, Not powder. You also mention several colors so this must be commercially available? But again, NO details?
So for those of us old farts who have a little interest in this could you share the ins and outs of what you are doing? I have heard a hundred ways of powder coating with the same hundred differing results. That is why I still to this day do not do it. I am not going to commit to something unless there is a better than good chance it will work and I won't be stuck with even more useless equipment laying around.

[gnappi]

First off keep in mind I have never powder coated so this is all new info for me but I se the title mentions wet coating and that is it, no explanation, no details other than it generally does not work.
Apparently your method works quite well but you mention paint, Not powder. You also mention several colors so this must be commercially available? But again, NO details?
So for those of us old farts who have a little interest in this could you share the ins and outs of what you are doing? I have heard a hundred ways of powder coating with the same hundred differing results. That is why I still to this day do not do it. I am not going to commit to something unless there is a better than good chance it will work and I won't be stuck with even more useless equipment laying around.

Sorry, some times we forget who the wider audience is. Paint is powder coat, The wet method involves using an amount of acetone with the paint powder shaken and baked.

There is a lot of paint commercially and there are some sellers on this web site.

That said in my limited experience with the wet method the colors and brands for the "wet" method are not fussy at all. I have found the shake and bake (SnB) method to be a lot less tolerant of paint brand and formulation.

The formulation is what the paint is made of and these are some of what I used by brand / color and formulation.

HB Fuller Green --- formulation Urethane

HB Fuller Red burgundy --- formulation TGIC

Valspar Jet black --- formulation Epoxy (less than wonderful SnB results)

Govesan Teal Blue polyester

That said getting into SnB PC is really pretty inexpensive. Cheap ovens I have found at local thrift shops in near new condition for around ten dollars. Then add some plastic containers and black airsoft ammo to shake with and the cost / investment cost is pretty small. Paint is used sparingly so the cost of a pound is less in the long run over wax lube.

When I first started I lucked into a seller on Ebay that had inexpensive "sampler packs" of paint (note brands above) and others that did not work out with Snb which I'm eager to try out with the wet and lube methods. Also another user here sent me some samples of paint he had luck with.

So I wouldn't let expense drive your decision to try PC'ing go for it just remember this site is about the best place for info on the subject and the readers are very helpful. If you do decide PC isn't for you, you'll at worst have $30 or a bit more of an investment to dispose of.

[elmacgyver0]

I briefly had a foray into wet powder coating but quickly returned to shake and bake.

[charlie b]

If you are new to this and want to try SnB then please do yourself a favor and buy the powder from Smoke. He has tested them and they work. Some still do work better than others. You can also ask him questions via PM or in the forum.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...owder-For-sale

If you want the easiest powder to work with (IMHO) then get his Carolina Blue or go to Eastwood powders and get the Ford Light Blue.

For SnB technique, this is the best write up I have seen.

https://www.mp-molds.com/tipstricks/...ble-dt-method/

Wet coating is a different game. If you want to go that route then just get the HiTek coatings that are made for wet coating.