powder coating paint

[D Crockett]

if your toster oven is set for 400deg. but only runs for 11 minutes are these bullets good to go ???? D Crockett

 

[Jeff H]

if your toster oven is set for 400deg. but only runs for 11 minutes are these bullets good to go ???? D Crockett

An expert, by no means, but I'd say "no," based on what I've read/heard/seen.

I'm using a commercial pizza oven meant to cook frozen, prepared foods in a roach coach or food stand, and the mechanical timer only goes 15 minutes. The powder I am using is supposed to go 20 minutes. I either hang around for the first 5 minutes and reset the timer back to 15 minutes, or I keep an eye on my watch and come back 15 minutes after I started it and set it for 5 more minutes. That gets me my whole 20 minutes - per the recommendations of the maker of the powder.

I think I will eventually bypass the mechanical timer and add one of my own or use a ramp-soak PID controller, which ramps up to temp, "soaks" at that temp for some preset period of time, and then ramps down or just shuts off. The instructions on the powder I have says 20 minutes at 400F, so put the bullets in the oven, start it and then don't start the timer until it hits 400F.

That doesn't mean that the BULLETS are all 400F, but the air around them, so I don't get in a panic to start/stop the clock exactly at 400F/20 minutes. Five minutes on either/each end of the cycle doesn't seem to be hurting anything. You could calculate how long lead of a given thickness takes to reach 400F, but I don't feel like looking all that up and crunching numbers. It seems "close enough."

I will NOT fudge on the other side of that coin, by cutting the bake time short though.

 

[fiver]

yep a little long= still good.
a little short, not so good,,,, and probably an issue in the barrel to boot.

 

[Ian]

Nope. Don't shoot them. Run for two consecutive cycles without any gap if you have to. I believe you can re-cure what you already have with a 20+ minute bake to let the cross-linking compound finish doing its thing.

 

[GRMPS]

if your toster oven is set for 400deg. but only runs for 11 minutes are these bullets good to go ???? D Crockett

Just because the oven is set at 400° doesn't mean it is actually reaching 400°.
Use a couple of oven thermometers set on the middle of the shelf you're baking on and make sure your oven is reaching 400°. due to the type and location of the thermometer in countertop ovens,
the temperature setting will vary with the surrounding temperature.

I have found through a lot of experimenting that baking ANY powder for 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 400° will give you the best finish and assure a full cure.

 

[GRMPS]

Not everything is equal in powder coating.

​

Powder Coating creates a Polymer coating/shell around the cast boolit

.....a) it helps protect the boolit from the barrel

.....b) it works as a lubricant between the boolit and the barrel

.....c) it protects the user (and user's kids) from the lead



Different atmospheric conditions can limit static or dampen the powder.



1) the powder must be kept dry ----I use double zipper bags in the NW where we get a lot of rain, store my powder in a garage with a gas furnace and WH

2) the boolits must be kept clean --- IF I'm not coating the boolits right away I put them in plastic zipper bags --- NEVER QUENCH before PCing!!!

.....a) baking the boolits will take most of the hardness you gain by quenching out of the boolit

.....b) quenching is a good way to contaminate the boolits so the PC won't stick well

.....c) quenching after PCing gives good results

.....d) touching the boolit with oily hands can/will affect the coating --- wear nitrile/plastic gloves or use a clean spoon or ? to move the boolits


PC can be dried out in an oven KEEP the temperature below 150° F (leaving the container open in an airconditioned room works) IF the PC is lumpy after drying it will quickly become powder again when you start swirl/shaking [I Rarely ever shake the container when PCing -- the containers don't last long when I do and just swirling gives me good results



3) the oven temperature must be checked with an oven thermometer (or 2) and the dial adjusted to where the thermometers read 400°

.....a) the oven temperatures will change with the surrounding air temperature due to location and type of sensor they use

.....b) toaster ovens work but only for smaller loads and have a tendency to have hot spots (some of the boolits can/will melt)

.....c) conventions ovens have been proven best because they have a circulating and the evenly heats all the boolits ---you can safely bake full trays of boolits



4) If the air/atmosphere is really damp you may need to pre-warm the boolits --- I use an oven set at 150° F or you can set a pan of boolits on to of your hot oven

.....a) the boolits must not be hotter than you can comfortably touch with bare hands or you can get PC clumping-- starting to cure



5) not all PC needs BB's/poly pellets to work --- this is a trial and error thing



6) polyester (usually TGIC) PC works best for me, I get better results with higher gloss powders



7) white/light colors generally don't cover well but adding a little of another color usually helps



8) COATING BOOLITS:

.....A) BOWLS

..........1) coating bowls/containers need to be plastic #5 or plastic #2

..........2) larger diameter bowls allow you to swirl/build up static faster thus cool whip bowls do such a good job

..........3) lids: if the bowl doesn't have a screw-on lid make sure you hang onto it or the lid will come open

.....B)STATIC BUILDING MEDIA: Normally cover the bottom of small bowls with 2 layers large bowls with 1 layer

..........1) ASBB (Air Soft BB's) black BB's are proven to work I've found camouflaged BB's that work also. It has to do with the hardness, what the BB's are made out of as to how well they help build static. even nonstatic building BB's will help even out the coating

..........2) Poly pellets normally black or white, haven't found any poly pellets that didn't help

.....C) Boolits:

..........1) use a minimum of 12-15 boolits -- enough to build up static

..........2) maximum no more than 2-3 layers deep in your bowl

.....D) Powder: This will vary on bowl size and number of boolits being coated

..........1)Ziploc Twist 'n Loc, after the BB's are coated, no more than 1 teaspoon per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.

..........2) Cool Whip after the BB's are coated 1-2 teaspoons per batch see how much PC is left in the bottom of the bowl after coating.

..........3) Too much PC will prevent good static build-up

..........4) Too little PC will result in thin/spotty coating --- it's easy to add a little more and swirl a little longer

.....E) blending/mixing different PC is not like dealing with paint, white and black don't always make grey more often you get spotted/splotchy boolits

a) blending/mixing a little good PC with a bad PC often makes the bad PC work

b) blending/mixing multiple PCs can give you amazing results but the results will change with each batch you coat

c) some powders stick faster/better than others, the blend color will be heavier with that color to begin with then taper of when the color is used up in the bowl

.....F) SWIRLING: Screw or hold the lid tight and swirl the bowl holding it flat to verticle and back to flat, continue until all boolit are coated

.....G) preparing coated boolits:

..........1) REMOVE ALL EXCESS POWDER

.................a) Sift PC/boolits/BB's in a colander with something to catch the BB's and powder when they fall through the colander removing all excess PC

........................1) after all the PC/BB's are sifted off pick up the boolits with tweezers or fingers wearing surgical gloves (dipped in pc first to prevent sticking)

.................b) Pick up- dump PC'd boolits in a tray or? pick them up with tweezers, tap the tweezer on the side of a container to remove all excess PC

.....H) preparing to bake: Use a pan lined with non-stick paper/foil/bake mats or screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply)

..........a) stand short fat boolits up on their bases using finger or tweezer method

..........b) place taller boolits in silicone ice cube trays or use a metal grid to keep them from falling over

..........c) Dump method dump the sifted boolits in screen (1/4 hardware cloth)/wire basket (office supply) [this doesn't work well with all PC's you can get bad sticking

9) Baking PC the manufacturer states Bake for XX minutes at XXX° AFTER this condition exists

.....a) bake for XX minutes AFTER the boolits have reached XXX°

.....b) bake for XX minutes AFTER the PC starts to flow on the boolits

.....c) PC will look good after it flows and may pass the smash test BUT unless bakes to factory specifications IT IS NOT FULLY CURED

*****I have found that baking the coated boolits in an oven preheated to 400° for 25 minutes meets or exceeds all manufacturers requirements*****



10) Testing PC for adhesion/sticking using a smooth-faced hammer

.....a) flatten the PC'd cool boolit to 1/2 its original height seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off

.....b) hammer the PC'd cool boolit into a cube seeing if any PC cracks or flakes off

.....c) just because the PC passes the hammer test doesn't mean its fully cured, just that it is sticking well



11 SIZING

.....a) PC'd usually boolits size easily; if not, a little spray case lube can be used

.....b) IF PC is scraped off when sizing polish the entrance to your sizing die

..........1) with fine sandpaper made into a cone with the grit on the outside

..........2) with a Dremel tool, a felt boolit shaped polisher and some fine polishing compound --- I like Flitz

.....c)*** I like running a felt polisher in the sizing die for a few seconds to smooth the machine marks and make sizing easier

12 LOADING:

.....a) PC is normally loaded to regular cast boolit loads

.....b) GC usually aren't needed with PC's boolits until you reach 1600 - 2100 fps depending on the gun, powder, and boolit

.....c) PC'd boolits can work with a softer alloy and be pushed faster/harder than regular lubed boolits



***I like using different colored boolits to designate different diameters or powder charges***

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

Hello Jim!!

Good ta "see" ya!

CW

 

[D Crockett]

what if I can not get to baking the bullets say a week will that make a diferance ??? or should I just scrap that batch of bullets ??? D Crockett

 

[Mitty38]

what if I can not get to baking the bullets say a week will that make a diferance ??? or should I just scrap that batch of bullets ??? D Crockett

Keep them in a sealed container they should be fine. I have left them up to 2weeks that way. If you are worried do a test batch of a few before you commit to the entire pile.
I have left them up to a month and saved them by washing well with dawn, would not recommend that as a standard procedure, but it worked once for me.
If you test them and the do not work out, you can always traditional lubed them. Shoot them that way. A lot less work then recasting, good bullets.

 

[Dimner]

I have coated bullets up to a year later, or even more. I always size prior to coating and then size again afterwards. So I only have two criteria on if I coat bullets I have cast long ago.

1) were they protected from dust/grease? (i keep my bullets in ziplocks, glad disposable tupperware, or the like)
2) Can I still size them prior to coating/baking? (even this has a work around. Just bake your bullets in a manner where they kind of 'anneal')

I cannot remember ever throwing back a batch just to recast again for PC.

 

[popper]

I use smoke's red, just cause that's what I have. I size rifle first if GC version to seat the GC. Pistol and PB after coating. I cook on a hot plate. After swirling, I pick them out with hemos. If too heavy coated ( I look at them when I pick them up), which isn't often, I tap on the copper coated grill cloth to remove excess powder. Normally I just drop them into the plastic 'holder' I made from a 45acp tray with the hole bottom opened up (which I remove before baking). Lower right is where I tap off the excess, some excess from just dropping can be seen also and I've cooked several batches on this before scraping excess off the copper sheet. I scrape off any on the sheet as tall bullets sometimes play domino if I don't. Pimples on PB make a mess too. I changed to the hot plate as transferring long bullets to the oven doesn't work well for me anymore. Occasionally I get one that has thick coating, more force needed to size. I don't sift as I don't want powder floating around the workbench and don't have a sifter. Hot plate is same I use to preheat the moulds. She gave me some kind of high temp plastic dish I cover the bullets when baking, no convection used. A metal cake pan cover would wok too. I've posted some targets here, coated shoot fine. I only shoot pistol for SD practice but I have gotten 2" 3 shot @ 25 yds with coated in 40sw. Probably limited by my eyesight.

 

[Mitty38]

I use smoke's red, just cause that's what I have. I size rifle first if GC version to seat the GC. Pistol and PB after coating. I cook on a hot plate. After swirling, I pick them out with hemos. If too heavy coated ( I look at them when I pick them up), which isn't often, I tap on the copper coated grill cloth to remove excess powder. Normally I just drop them into the plastic 'holder' I made from a 45acp tray with the hole bottom opened up (which I remove before baking). Lower right is where I tap off the excess, some excess from just dropping can be seen also and I've cooked several batches on this before scraping excess off the copper sheet. I scrape off any on the sheet as tall bullets sometimes play domino if I don't. Pimples on PB make a mess too. I changed to the hot plate as transferring long bullets to the oven doesn't work well for me anymore. Occasionally I get one that has thick coating, more force needed to size. I don't sift as I don't want powder floating around the workbench and don't have a sifter. Hot plate is same I use to preheat the moulds. She gave me some kind of high temp plastic dish I cover the bullets when baking, no convection used. A metal cake pan cover would wok too. I've posted some targets here, coated shoot fine. I only shoot pistol for SD practice but I have gotten 2" 3 shot @ 25 yds with coated in 40sw. Probably limited by my eyesight.
View attachment 25685

I like the Idea of bullets in a covered pan to distribute heat in the toaster oven. Simple solution For an often over thought problem.

 

[GRMPS]

what if I can not get to baking the bullets say a week will that make a diferance ??? or should I just scrap that batch of bullets ??? D Crockett

Keep them clean and they will be fine. IF I'm not going to PC right away I put the freshly coated bullets in plastic zipper bags. I try not to touch them with my bare hands to eliminate the possibility of getting oil on them

 

[Reloader762]

Remember, its clear. (Ya cant see the voids).
Everyone says it coats best... it does appear to coat very well but no better than any good coating color I use.

CW

For me, Smokes clear is one of my favorites. It's possible to have voids with any color, but with the clear and how it flows the chances are very slim to non, at least that been my experience. I get pretty much the same results with Eastwood Metal Gray as well.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

This Chroma chrome is outstanding in how it flows!!

I mistakenly got a couple "toohot" bullets in one batch and of coarse they had way too much powder. The powder flowed so well the bade of those 45's was closer to 46!! Never saw flow like that.

CW

 

[GRMPS]

ANYTIME the temperature around a countertop oven changes you should check the oven temperature with a thermometer in the middle of the shelf you bake on to see if your heat setting is still right.
I have discovered through a lot of testing that baking ALL powders for 25 minutes at 400° in a preheated oven gives me the complete cure and the best finnish.

 

[Dimner]

My guilty pleasure is the one time i struck gold at salvation army resale. Some people come away with all kinds of deals on tools, components, or pewter from garage sales, auctions, or goodwill. I always fail at finding anything.

But once!!! The light shined (shone?) on me and there sat:



A $350 convection rotisserie counter top pizza oven. Marked with a green tag for 17.99. I immediately grabbed it. It was used one time. Just had a few drips of pizza sauce. I'm guessing some rich couple got it for their wedding and eventually donated it after never using it. (I always shop at the rich people resale shops) Took it up front and found out that the green tags that day had an extra 20% off.

If this used up every last bit of scrounge/flea market luck I have, I would consider my self satisfied. To this day, my wife is miffed that I have sullied it with powder coated bullets, while she uses a 15 dollar Kohl's crappy toaster oven.

ANYTIME the temperature around a countertop oven changes you should check the oven temperature with a thermometer in the middle of the shelf you bake on to see if your heat setting is still right.
I have discovered through a lot of testing that baking ALL powders for 25 minutes at 400° in a preheated oven gives me the complete cure and the best finnish.

I fully agree. I preheat until the oven tells me it's at 425*, wait another 5 minutes, then insert bullets and bake for 25 minutes. Never a problem. I have checked the oven's thermometer vs an external and they agree +/- 5*.

 

[Dimner]

Is it just me, or is it an absolute delight when you open up your container and your bullets look just like this:

View attachment 25693

It's like an early birthday present.

 

[GRMPS]

Due to the location and type of thermometer used in countertop ovens and where they are located, they are affected by the surrounding temperature.
When the oven tells you it's xxx° it's the same thermometer telling you that.

 

[GRMPS]

You can get lucky at thrift stores, this one came home with me for $15.
I ran out of ceramic BBQ briquettes to finish covering the bottom of the oven, these act as a heat sink and help the oven recover/get back to temperature faster after it is opened. Lava rock, glass, firebrick work also