A partnership continued.

[ironworkerwill]

Pablo, don't forget to put those away, some one like me might try to eat them for candy View attachment 211030

 

[Schwing]

I am still looking to perfect the speed aspect of coating. I currently have two toaster ovens and I can crank out around 850 an hr (depends more on caliber). I use two bowls. I use four trays and while two are baking I am tumbling more and loading the other two trays. They come out great that way :
Some 4's 200 gr SWC


Seems like decent speed but i rarely have more than 4-5 hours straight to dedicate plus it's hard to keep up and I cannot tumble and keep up with any more than two toaster ovens. A dedicated house oven in the shed or barn would be the route to do large quantities for me it seems.

I bought the spray gun and sprayed some with success but you have to build pedestals to set the bullet on (a little smaller in diameter) in order to get the point and enough of the bottom edge of the bullet at the base. That worked fine but the nuts were held on by JB-Weld and they broke loose after a few times and slid around. Also the amount of powder coat you use increases dramatically. That and the cost of the good non stick aluminum foil only last two sprays before it needs replacing. I went through a $5 roll and a lb of powder $6 (HF) in no time. Example of tray : http://s613.photobucket.com/user/shutupandjump/media/PowderCoating/1-19-15005_zpsbe3bfc95.jpg.html and results http://s613.photobucket.com/user/shutupandjump/media/PowderCoating/1-19-15005_zpsbe3bfc95.jpg.html By Beagle333 over on TFL https://thefiringline.com/forums/index.php

That or you have to spray them nose down. Which I have tried by drilling holes in cookie sheets to put the bullets in. (Note: all my bullets are SWC or TC) Once sprayed I baked them but the coating ran down and they got stuck so a no go. Original thought was to flip them back over on another tray (before baking) and maybe even spray the tips to have a full coat.

I also have tried the wet method using acetone and 2-3 coats to achieve the same goal as tumbling. Seems the acetone evaporates too easily and went through a half a Qt. in no time and did not coat many bullets either.

I was reading a post by a guy who said that lacquer thinner works awesome and gets them in one coat using the mixture he came up with. http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/66713-powder-coating-the-easy-way/ claims it's fool proof. Supported by one more claim by someone in the same thread who tried his method. Seems like I may need to pick some laquer thinner up and give it a whirl (pun).

If it works it seems like a much faster method for getting the coat on well enough to bake. If so I can increase my output with a larger heating source or I can use the time in between baking to size them.

FWIW there is also the wire method using the spray gun where you suspend the bullets by wire twisted around the lube grooves where powder is not necessary. I have not tried it. Seems too tedious.

I found a great option for your holes in the cookie sheet idea. I went down the same road and had some of the same problems. To start out, I bought some of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-T...685&sr=8-1&keywords=toaster+oven+crisper+pans

Locally I paid like $2 so the $9 is ridiculous. I turn that crisper pan upside down and place the bullets in nose down. I attach the HF spray gun alligator clip directly to the pan and spray. I then lay a piece of parchment paper (cut to size) over the base of those bullets and then lay one of these over the top:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004REJH2M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

With the two pans lightly pinned together, just turn everything right-side up. After carefully removing the crisper tray, you have a sheet of bullets perfectly set up for baking.

The only issue that bothers me is that there is a little bit of powder splash that gets on the tips of some of the bullets. The solution to these was easy as well. I just turn them right-side up and give the tray a light blast of air before separating the two pans. This gives you a nifty looking bullet that is perfectly coated on the bottom with a shiny lead tip.

I am at work so I will try and post some pics when I get home to sort of clarify.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I am spraying with the ES gun on foil. As such there's a fair amount of excess powder on the foil. However I found that I can use this to my advantage

I discovered that when I pick up a bullet to move it to the parchment paper lined tray if I drag the base along the powder covered foil enough powder will stick to the bullet base to coat it too.

100% coverage with the gun is possible

 

[R.W.Dale]

This pic shows some bullets with coated bases using the drag method

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

This pic shows some bullets with coated bases using the drag method

You missed one...lol

Sounds like a good idea. Think I will give that a shot.

 

[blarby]

Why are we still talking about the guns, sheesh !

 

[R.W.Dale]

Why are we still talking about the guns, sheesh !

Why not. They coat great and do it in one coat.

 

[clearcut]

I thought this was the low tec. shake n bake thread .
CC

 

[R.W.Dale]

I thought it was a PC thread

An air compressor and a harbor freight store is hardly cutting edge and is probably less involved than finding the special kind of tub that works in X humidity with Y color of airsoft pellets.

 

[Schwing]

Why are we still talking about the guns, sheesh !

I definitely see the appeal of the shake and bake method. Even though I have the gun, I still shake and bake at least half of mine.

Having said that, why put blinders up to other methods? Both have merits and disadvantages and I am glad I can do both.

 

[blarby]

Socom foodz !

459's on the way ! THANK YOU BDS.

BTW- the 459 IS INDEED a custom size according to lee. The label on the inside of the kit is handwritten for the size, further proof. Nice snag on finding that, according to what lee wants for custom sizers, that one was a steal

 

[blarby]

I thought this was the low tec. shake n bake thread .

It is, and I've pointed it out 3 times now ( including very clearly in post #1 ), but hey !

The more the merrier.

Much like getting my wife to leave the toilet seat up, sometimes you get hoarse yelling at the wind.

 

[Schwing]

It is, and I've pointed it out 3 times now ( including very clearly in post #1 ), but hey !

The more the merrier.

Much like getting my wife to leave the toilet seat up, sometimes you get hoarse yelling at the wind.

Fair enough. It is your thread.

 

[blarby]

A fun little combo test.

357 mag in STEEL

Now they look EXTRA COMMIE !

Thats the new ketih 158 LSWC, and due to its extremely long nose, must be seated deeper to allow funtioning in revolvers.

Starting out at 4.5grs of Unique and working my way up- all summer long

 

[rsrocket1]

Had fun coating a few (35 pounds) of 9 and 40 bullets on Sunday afternoon. All shake and bake. I do find that the hard occasional shake does create more static electricity cling between the powder and the lead. This probably because the powder is making and breaking contact with the lead which is the cause of static electricity.

 

[blarby]

I gotta say, I really like the purple !

 

[Jesse Heywood]

A fun little combo test.

357 mag in STEEL

Now they look EXTRA COMMIE !

Thats the new ketih 158 LSWC, and due to its extremely long nose, must be seated deeper to allow funtioning in revolvers.

Starting out at 4.5grs of Unique and working my way up- all summer long

Have you thought about coating those steel cases? Say a green bullet with purple cases for zombies?

I would think coating with the old primer in. And sizing after coating.

 

[blarby]

Nope.

Hadn't thought of that.

Given the very tight tolerances, I doubt its a super idea. However, if someone else wants to try- im not opposed.

 

[Pablo5959]

Here's what one coat of Sherwin Williams gloss black looks like.

And this is the shake and bake method.

 

[Pablo5959]

I like the mesh option.

With nitrile gloves, those marks will disappear anyway.

On my list !

I found out the mesh over a paper plate was not necessary.
Just pour out a layer (about 1/3 of the container at a time) onto a plate.
It's much easer to pick out the projectiles from a plate then a container.
When finished, fold the plate and dump the BB's and powder back into the container.

I got even less scuff marks this way.

Pablo

 

[blarby]

Very nice looking.

Pass the smashing test ?

 

[LiveLife]

459's on the way ! THANK YOU BDS.

BTW- the 459 IS INDEED a custom size according to lee. The label on the inside of the kit is handwritten for the size, further proof. Nice snag on finding that, according to what lee wants for custom sizers, that one was a steal

Glad to hear the .459" sizer worked out!

I got a call from the facility Wednesday that they are working on the reference checks and HR should be finalizing the paperwork to do a formal job offer so things are looking good for the job transfer/promotion!

My BIL said he has some lead wheel weights so I may be casting bullets sooner than I thought.

Looking at all these colorful PC bullets is making me crave jelly beans.

 

[blarby]

Boy, this has been a hard summer to get anything done !

Life changes... fire restrictions... you name it !

One high point so far :

the .459 sized 350gr PCRNFP's performed admirably with between 34 and 38 grains of I4198, clocking velocities from the low 15's to the high 17's at the high end.

The SOCOM upper was stripped to the gas port before each string of 40 rounds in load workup, and showed no signs of PC migration in the gas system- a welcome bonus. In addition, no lube buildup in the seating die like traditional hard 2500fps black rifle lube. This is a major factor in that bullet, as it has 4 lube grooves For a target round, this meets all requirements for future use.

My SAECO is beginning to gather dust from lack of use, and this doesn't make it any easier to warm up the lube...

It doesn't look like fire restrictions are going to lift anytime soon, so likely the last performance report till the fall- which gives me time to figure out this annoying pointed bullet powdercoating scheme...