Not really a waste.
Most of them were colours that were horrible or did not work.
A lot of them were less than 10 grams. some had been sitting on the shelf and had been affected by light discolouring the powder.
Besides......I'm not allowed to give or sell any of the test samples as per the agreement with HITEK.
If I were to sell or give away, people would drive me crazy wanting this and that mailed here and there...
I'm a grumpy old coot with a very low tolerance for fools.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Australia
I figured that would probably be the case with the stuff Joe gives you. I just hate seeing things being wasted, how I was brought up I suppose (I don't throw things out until they're absolutely beyond repair).
As for the colours being horrible you just need to keep mixing them and eventually you're bound to come up with something usable.
Not always just the colours not being right, it could have been samples that the chemistry was not yet sorted out for that colour, hense the testing and no point keeping them.
An interesting thing would be to test a known good sample that is as old as possible and see if it still works to prove it is shelf stable, being powder i'd suspect it would be. After it has been dissolved in Acetone, then it all changes. I don't store my left overs in the fridge, and it will only last a few months before it starts to clump up, but i try not to over mix too much for batches, so making it fresh every time is not an issue and i know it's good.
Joe
Do you know how long the powder stays usable for it's intended use of keeping lead out of my barrel? I know from experience that the two part liquid coating darkens over time. How about the powder?
While I work at it, it is by God's grace that it happens. So it is best I ask him what, how and when before I start..
I had a sample of the gold 1035 that was around 5 years old.
I coated some 44 240gnRNFP with it a few months ago.
worked perfectly.
Even the colour was right.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Australia
Thanks for the input Ausglock.
I also still have a little of the first coating I bought in 2014. It is the liquid 1035 Gold. It has been stored in the basement all this time. The last time I used it the bullets turned out a little dark but were fine when loaded and shot. No lead. Just ordered some 1035 Gold powder version.
With the liquid being good for that length of time I would expect the powder to be good for 15-20 years just sitting on the shelf. But I thought I would ask Joe what he thought.
While I work at it, it is by God's grace that it happens. So it is best I ask him what, how and when before I start..
Avenger
Thanks for the question.
My suggestion is to store the material out of sunlight in a well sealed container. We noticed that in clear jars the powder directly in contact with jar internally, the film on container internal surface became discolored by sunlight after a period . Upon opening the jar, the rest/bulk seems perfectly OK. Shaking sealed jar seems to mix in the discolored material, and seems not to affect final performance.
I would not go as far as suggesting, that the product as a powder will be stable for years, but I could be wrong, with people supplying information of using powders after a couple of years and working OK.
Understand the caution in you answer Joe.
It looks like we will see how the powder holds up that is stored in my unheated uncooled basement. Do have humidity control. My oldest powder version is 5-6 years old. I think more toward the 6 years. Will have to get it out use it and report back. Think I'll use it to coat the 9mm bullets I am casting. 9mm should be a good test. Would expect no change in keeping the lead out. And as, I remember, this color is the Gun Metal. Will probably see no change in the color since it is already dark. May have a go at the next oldest if I can figure out which color it is.
While I work at it, it is by God's grace that it happens. So it is best I ask him what, how and when before I start..
Al right, have the bonded mold release powder in hand. And just to make sure I mix it right, when it says 5 gm per 150 ml of acetone that is a weighed 5 gm right?
Just asking the dumb question.
While I work at it, it is by God's grace that it happens. So it is best I ask him what, how and when before I start..
Correct.... 5 grams by weight to 150mls of acetone or MEK.
Also.. the bonded release can be removed with acetone if you need to clean your molds or do maintainance to them.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor.
Australia
[QUOTE=Avenger442;5201589]Understand the caution in you answer Joe.
Avenger,
The coatings are made and supplied with users intent to use them.
I don't understand why any one would need to store the coating for years. It is designed to be used in reasonable timeframe. I understand that some folk don't produce and coat many projectiles.
The facts are, the Hi-Tek goes a very long way with using small amounts, so, buying quantities needed regularly, to suit volume production needs, is better option. If you have any left over, you can be assured it will work after storing it for a reasonable time. This eliminates questions arising about years of stability and use ability of stored coating .
[QUOTE=HI-TEK;5204212]When i was younger and i thought "smarter" (2 years or so ago) i was unaware that mixed hitek powder does indeed go off if left in the Brisbane heat, even though it was in a shed, it clumped up and did not dissolve once being left for a few months. My idea was to mix up decent sized batches and use what i needed and leave it for next time. I later found out that was not a wise move, after Joe advised me to just mix what i need plus a small buffer to know there was enough. Easy enough to calculate how much you need when you know your application rate per KG.
If it's mixed fresh, you know the colour will be right each and every time. For the amount of waste generated by making new batches if the remaining mixed hi-tek is not used fast enough is really not an issue, it's only a few bucks worth that is disposed of. I'm happy to mix it fresh instead of having to spend hours re-casting if i applied "stale" hitek and it did not work. I only ever seem to dump 30-50ml which i'm ok with.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |