Introduction of New Member

Rockydoc

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
I am a Alabamian. Raised in Greensboro, and Centreville. I am a retired dentist and Naval officer. I attended The University of Alabama for my BS and the University of Alabama School of Dentistry for my DMD. I have lived for the last 50 years in Northwest Florida, near Panama City.

I have been reloading since high school and casting since about 1970.

I have reloaded shotgun, pistol, rifle, many calibers.

I have built a muzzleloading rifle scratch from parts: wooden plank, rough brass castings with sprues intact, draw file the octagonal barrel flats, cut the dovetails, cut and tapped the vent.. In other words, not a kit.

In retirement one gets restless and wants to try many different things, esp. with Covid 19 cabin fever, so I have taken an interest in powder coating.
I am not interested in handling each individual bullet. I don’t want to stand them on end for anything. Especially for spraying.

I don't want the technique I use to be any more difficult than tumble lubing with BLL.
There seem to be members on this forum who feel the same way and who already have experience that I would like to glean from.

So thank you for giving me the opportunity to join you.

All you guys out there in the “Shake and Dump and Bake” camp please tune in and tell me what I need to know.

What powders work best and what doesn’t work for that technique.

Thanks,

Tom Stone

Rockydoc
 
JWFilips

JWFilips

Well-Known Member
Welcome Tom!
You found a great place here! And you are in the same state as one of my all time favorite Cast Bullet Friends! Ben Hays!
I'm sure he will pipe up soon as will all of the great folks here
Jim
 
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Hawk

Hawk

Well-Known Member
Welcome from Texas, Tom.
As far as powder coating, I always stand mine up with tweezers by the lube groove.
It's not a lot of extra time and I like the way the bullets look. Probably does not make any difference in the way they shoot.
It also seems to cut down on the dust in the air. I wear a full seal, particle mask when powder coating.
Others just shake and dump on a screen and bake and I'm sure they will chime in soon.
If your new to powder coating, be aware that some smokeless propellants react with some types of powder coating materials.
Titegroup, BE-86 and Longshot have reacted badly for me with some powder coatings.
 
Rockydoc

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
Hawk said:
Welcome from Texas, Tom.
As far as powder coating, I always stand mine up with tweezers by the lube groove.
It's not a lot of extra time and I like the way the bullets look. Probably does not make any difference in the way they shoot.
It also seems to cut down on the dust in the air. I wear a full seal, particle mask when powder coating.
Others just shake and dump on a screen and bake and I'm sure they will chime in soon.
If your new to powder coating, be aware that some smokeless propellants react with some types of powder coating materials.
Titegroup, BE-86 and Longshot have reacted badly for me with some powder coatings.
Click to expand...
Hawk,
Thank you for the welcome and the heads up re: the potential gunpowder reactions.
Tom
 
waco

waco

Springfield, Oregon
Welcome! I shake and dump into a basket with good results. I am a fan of Eastwood’s Super gloss clear. Excellent coverage and they look “normal”
 
Rick H

Rick H

Well-Known Member
Welcome Doc, I use the BB's and stand mine up with nitrile gloves. All is not lost: purchased a fancy mesh basket at Bed Bath & Beyond, and a container to shake the excess powder into and am about to try the dump and bake method, particularly for pistol bullets.
 
StrawHat

StrawHat

Well-Known Member
A hearty Buckeye welcome from NE Ohio!

I still use lube so no help to you but will pay attention in case i want to convert.

Kevin
 
462

462

California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
Doc,
I've no interest in powder coating, but howdy nonetheless.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Another howdy from Texas. I powder coat almost everything now after spending many years on a dedicated search for a bullet lubricant that will withstand the heat and humidity here and still shoot well in freezing weather. Main reason for powder coating is it solves a lot of problems for me when I use suppressors and gas-operated automatics. I shake with plastic BBs and pick with small needlenose pliers and place on non-stick foil-wrapped thin steel plates, so I'm not much help on the dump/bake thing although I tried it a few times and didn't like the results. I think the MOST important factor to successful powder coating is proper time and temperature of the cure. A convection oven is required and a standard, $5 oven thermometer helps a lot. Generally 20-25 minutes is sufficient for a full cure. If the powder is fully cured, the interaction with propellant powder is reduced or eliminated. I use Polyester TGIC powders and get mine at Powderbuythepound dot com. Sky Blue has been the best appearing powder so far, but any of them shoot fine as long as you get 80% gloss or better, the matting agent in the more dull sheens doesn't work well with the BB/shake method. One of our members uses plastic pony beads instead of airsoft BBs and gets fabulous results with his shake/pick/tap/place/bake method.

Draw-filing an octagonal barrel is not something I think I'll ever be up to doing (at least not with chrome-moly steel) but like some others here I enjoy tedious, technical projects. You're in good company with your interests and experience.

Member "GRMPS" is one of several resident shake/dump/bake PC experts and has created a picture-heavy tutorial thread that I think is in the "bullet lube" section. Highly recommended reading https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/how-i-asbbdt-powdercoat.4538/
 
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Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Rockydoc said:
I am a Alabamian. Raised in Greensboro, and Centreville. I am a retired dentist and Naval officer. I attended The University of Alabama for my BS and the University of Alabama School of Dentistry for my DMD. I have lived for the last 50 years in Northwest Florida, near Panama City.

I have been reloading since high school and casting since about 1970.

I have reloaded shotgun, pistol, rifle, many calibers.

I have built a muzzleloading rifle scratch from parts: wooden plank, rough brass castings with sprues intact, draw file the octagonal barrel flats, cut the dovetails, cut and tapped the vent.. In other words, not a kit.

In retirement one gets restless and wants to try many different things, esp. with Covid 19 cabin fever, so I have taken an interest in powder coating.
I am not interested in handling each individual bullet. I don’t want to stand them on end for anything. Especially for spraying.

I don't want the technique I use to be any more difficult than tumble lubing with BLL.
There seem to be members on this forum who feel the same way and who already have experience that I would like to glean from.

So thank you for giving me the opportunity to join you.

All you guys out there in the “Shake and Dump and Bake” camp please tune in and tell me what I need to know.

What powders work best and what doesn’t work for that technique.

Thanks,

Tom Stone

Rockydoc
Click to expand...
_______________________________

I've responded to your private message.

Thanks,
Ben
 
Rockydoc

Rockydoc

Well-Known Member
Ian said:
Generally 20-25 minutes is sufficient for a full cure. The instructions on the powder package says "400*F for 10 minutes". I assume that means 10 minutes from the time when the powder melts. Is your time of 20-25 minutes from a cold oven? If not why so much longer?

If the powder is fully cured, the interaction with propellant powder is reduced or eliminated. I use Polyester TGIC powders and get mine at Powderbuythepound dot com. Sky Blue has been the best appearing powder so far, but any of them shoot fine as long as you get 80% gloss or better,
Does that "80% gloss" come from the description of the powder on PBP's website or something else alltogether?
Click to expand...
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
Cure time is based on PART METAL TEMPERATURE. That means that once the part itself has reached the required temperature listed on the container, the cure time can begin (ten minutes or whatever it is). Powders start to flow out at a temperature far lower than cure temperature, so that is a totally ineffective way to gauge how long to heat the bullets. Having actually used a contact probe for a DVOM and having used an infrared thermometer frequently I was able to figure out how long it takes MY particular oven, with various bullet weights and quantities, to reach part metal temperature. Then I add time for cure. It works out to 20-25 minutes from a cold start, though most of the time I bake for at least 22 minutes. Your time and settings may be different than mine or anyone else's due to the equipment you have available to you.

It is far better to slightly over-bake the bullets than it is to under bake them. I've done heat treating while powder coating and that requires a minimum of 45 minutes at anywhere from 410-430 for wheelweight alloy and the Polyester paint most of us use can handle that.

The gloss percentage is an international standard like RAL colors as far as I know. For bullets, the glossier the better.
 
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Hawk

Hawk

Well-Known Member
I preheat my toaster oven to 410 degrees, based on an oven thermometer, add my bullets, then bake for thirty minutes.
I figure the extra time will make up for the different size and weights of the bullets I cook.
Mine are usually pistol bullets from 95 grains .356 cal. up to 280 grain .432 caliber.
Mostly 125 grain 9mm and .38 SPL.
Do you think the problems I've had with BE-86 and Longshot eating the powder coating off are from under cooked bullets?
 
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