Oven for Powder coating Bullets

[dannyd]

Any inputs for oven for Powder Coating.

 

[Brad]

I bought a small convection oven at Menards on sale. Maybe 40-50 bucks?
I drilled a hole high on the side and pushed a long thermocouple thru the hole for my PID.
I have no complaints.

 

[popper]

Yes, forget the oven and get a hot plate. Place a cheap ceramic floor tile and Yoshi grill mat over that. No dominos! Hot plate with cast top work best. Place base down and cook. No need for PID, just set close to high and forget.

 

[waco]

I agree with Brad. Make sure it’s a convection toaster oven.

 

[358156 hp]

My set up is nearly identical to Brads, I bought my convection/toaster over at the Goodwill for $15.00 and reconfigured it for PID use. I use 3/16 steel plates instead of the trays it originally came with.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

26$ @ Wal mart. NOT Convection oven .

Sure they nice but more costly and of the tens if thousands I have baked... Not a single Complaint. . I fill the bottom of mine with lava rocks to build hold and dissipate more even heat. (I know that what a Convection oven does.)

Just know its for PC ONLY after baking first batch!!!

Get a good thermometer cause the dial lies!

CW

 

[Hawk]

$10 dollar convection/toaster oven at a garage sale.
I've used it for many years.
It doesn't have to be pretty! Just work.
Get an oven thermometer to calibrate it.

 

[Glaciers]

Got a Black & Decker convection toaster oven $45 at Wal mart. Dial reads 450* but the oven thermometer reads 400* consistently. Works good.

 

[Jeff H]

Not to be an overbearing jackass, but if you put together one of those "PID Units" for your lead pot, you can also use it for your bullet heat-treat/powder-coat toaster-oven.

I've also used my "PID unit" to control a pizza oven I heated Kyydex sheets in. If you get a controller with "ramp-soak" capability, you can put your bullets in, turn it on and go cast bullets, lube bullets, take a nap, drink beer,........

The "soak" is just a length of time to leave the heat on at a specific temp, which I believe you all are doing anyway, to make sure the mass heats up evenly. See? You KNOW this stuff already. You're just delegating the work to a machine.

I have nothing but respect for anyone who chooses to use the basic controls supplied on whatever they buy, so I am not pushing anyone in that direction who doesn't want to "go there." At the same time, when "young people" see "old people" use this stuff, they start to pay attention. We OWE it to the entitled generation to impart our legacy of processing thought upon them. Somebody's got to pick up the ball - we can't do all the thinking forever for them.

I do NOT mean to be an annoyance here, so ignore me if this is not your goal. Just want to avail myself in case someone wants to pursue this route.

 

[Brad]

I use my PID on my heat treat/ PC oven. Knowing that I can repeat the results day in and day out gives me piece of mind.
What I like most is the lack of wild temp swings. I can watch the temp vary by 2-3 degrees instead of 50.

 

[Wasalmonslayer]

I bought a convection oven at our mom and pop store for $49 and installed a Lyman lead thermometer to monitor temps and holds pretty consistent but runs hotter than the dial says.
I just back it down 25 from the dial and party on.
I have verified it with my pid and I am within 5 deg.

 

[popper]

My PID controlled oven sits on the shelf gathering dust.

 

[L Ross]

Yes, forget the oven and get a hot plate. Place a cheap ceramic floor tile and Yoshi grill mat over that. No dominos! Hot plate with cast top work best. Place base down and cook. No need for PID, just set close to high and forget.

That's interesting, likewise your comment about your PID controlled oven. Like a lot of things in life, I really don't understand the nuances until I actually attempt the task for myself. So if I understand your post about the hot plate you are sort of frying the powder coated bullets in the open air, standing on top of the mat and the tile?

 

[Mitty38]

I just use use a convection toaster oven. Set it and forget it till I hear a ding. My stuff comes out just fine.
The only thing is now that I am having trouble with is getting the pre heat thing just right without a better temp control.
Sometimes end up picking out a few thick ones from the sifting screen before I bake the batch.

 

[Ian]

Mine is a B&D convection/rotisserie(sp?) oven, nice and big. Got it at chinamart on sale for $40. I think it was being discontinued, it has actual knobs. The rotisserie thing is fabulous for curing extremely high-temperature coatings on suppressors, and the oven will actually make 550 degrees. The thermostat is pretty accurate and it convects well. the temperature swings don't really matter much because the bullets are a big heat sink and react very slowly to any fluctuations. Applying a temperature probe directly to a bullet and watching actual bullet surface temperature is an eye opener and explains why so many people still have good luck powder coating their bullets in very cheap, small, inaccurate toaster ovens.

Popper's method works due to simple conduction and may be a better method than any of us are using. For one thing, part metal temperature is guaranteed since the bullets are being heated directly and not just by hot air blowing around or radiant heat.

 

[Joshua]

I’m still very new to PC. I already had a five dollar garage sale toaster oven(non-convection). For heat distribution I built a cavity inside the oven that is surrounded by 1/8” aluminum plate and ceramic tile. The oven has a 30 minute timer, I preheat for a half hour. Then load in a basket, ten minutes brings the bullets up to heat, and finish with a twenty minute soak. I’ve done ten batches like this. Seems to work just fine.



I’ll pick up the next oven I come across under 20 bucks, as a backup; regardless of type.