Stupid Easy Powder Coating Projectiles

[tyeo098]

No, really. Its so easy even I was able to do it without hurting myself.
There is no electrostatic gun required!


Things you will need.

Not pictured:
A pair of needlenose pliers you 'liberated' from the tool cabinet to bed into forceps-looking-things. So that you can pluck the coated projectiles from the mixture and have very little contact.
A toaster oven from goodwill that cost 5$ but oddly works perfectly fine.

Some powder coat powder. Here I was running low on RED so I mixed in some BLACK.


Electrostatic generation medium part 1!
Aka, airsoft BBs.


Electrostatic generation medium part 2!
Aka, a Recyclable #5 plastic container (cool whip, etc. Look in the recycle triangle)
#5 generates the best static with airsoft BBs


Reynolds non-stick alum foil.
Yes, its a tad expensive, but it is very well worth it. I've used the same tiny sheet over 10x now.
It also helps the powder flow easier under the bases and get good coverage there.


PROCEDURE!

Take the plastic #5 container, add a scoop or 2 of powder, and chuck in some BBs until they fill about half way.
Or whatever your gut tells you. Its not an exact science.


Chuck some of your Lee TL356-124 RNs in to be coated.
Maybe 20-25? Go with your gut.


No picture for this part, but the most important step is the shaking method.
What you need to do is swirl the mass of powder, bullets, and BBs in a circle inside the container.
This generates a large amount of static electricity which excites the powder causing it to adhere to the lead is a small amount of force.
After swirling vigorously, you can either shake the container lightly up and down to suspend the mass in air and allow the powder to attach OR my method which is to turn the container sideways and 'roll' it in my hands in one direction, allowing the excited powder to flow over the lead naturally.

Either way you'll get this. A nicely coated projectile.
Make sure to grab the projectile by the NOSE/OGIVE as you need the powder in the driving bands to act as your lube/barrier.


Drop them all on some foil on the foil on the toaster oven rack, and heat for 10 min on 350ish.


Wait patiently.


TADA! Nicely cured perfect little poops of beautiful projectiles.


Even the bases are nicely covered.


Just size and load!

 

[jmorris]

That looks pretty easy.

From the looks of your sizing setup you might be interested in this thread.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?238711-Home-made-auto-sizer

The video of his setup is in post #15

 

[tyeo098]

Haha, I've seen that before but I've found it cheaper and easier to just chug some redbull and put some fast paced techno-style music on and just crank it out.

 

[Reefinmike]

I read through a handfull of pages on castboolits a few weeks ago and after seeing this again today, I ran out to HF to get some powder and walmart for a darn $20 can of plastic black bb's(the ones that supposedly do the best). Everyone has been making it seem extremely easy but im having a real difficult time. im stirring and shaking the living hell out of this poor ziploc container with really no improvements. adjusted amount of bb's, amount of powder, number of bullets. They always come out very spotty, probably less than 30% coverage. Areas that do get good coverage are just caked in clumpy powder. not my idea of an even coat. Im using some old 105gr 380 bullets that I cast up a couple years back, no lube. Do the bullets have to be freshly cast?

ive ruined three containers with black, now im gonna try out the yellow i bought to see if for some reason, it is just the powder.

 

[Safetychain]

I would assume that being in a high humidity area (near the coast) would deter achieving a sufficient electrostatic charge. There are probably only 20 days a year and never in the summer can I experience a spark to a door knob or while sliding out of a car in the SC low-country yet never been able to avoid a severe shock out in OR any day. Maybe by turning down the A/C till its uncomfortable then using a portable space heater to get the relative humidity down will make it work better.

 

[Steve2md]

Reefinmike,

The best functioning HF powder for the shake and bake method is the RED. Yellow and white KINDA work ok with the shake and bake method, BLACK doesn't tend to work for anyone. Get an ES gun if you need flat black boolits. Some of the powder by the pound glossy blacks work with shake and bake though.

 

[Reefinmike]

thanks for the heads up steve. The yellow was significantly better, even(ish) coverage but still very thin, especially after a trip in the oven. I guess Im gonna have to go back to harbor freight and get the white as well as another free tape measure(I have like 7 already )

 

[primalmu]

Out of curiosity (and being someone who isn't familiar with cast boolits) what is the advantage of powder coating bullets? Do you not have to worry about plastic getting into the rifling?

 

[rondog]

Primalu - lead bullets have to be lubricated, the lubes are typically messy, attract dirt and grit, make smoke when fired, and the bullets leave leading deposits in barrels. Not to mention lubrisizer machines are expensive, messy, need to be heated to soften the lube, etc. Swirling bullets in Lee Liquid Alox is just nasty too.

Powdercoating fresh, unlubed lead bullets essentially creates a "jacket" that's slick and provides the needed lubrication, doesn't attract dirt/grit, doesn't smoke, and nearly eliminates leading. They shoot great and are accurate!

 

[RussellC]

@ tyeo098: Too funny about the redbull and techno music. Say, I've never done casting, what is the purpose of the powder coat, does it prevent leading of the barrel sort of like copper plate, or is it for some other function?

Never mind, just saw rondog's explanation No lube and less smoke, anyone tried this on lead hollow points, like the Lyman 125 gr devastator mold?

Thanks,
Russellc

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I would assume that being in a high humidity area (near the coast) would deter achieving a sufficient electrostatic charge. There are probably only 20 days a year and never in the summer can I experience a spark to a door knob or while sliding out of a car in the SC low-country yet never been able to avoid a severe shock out in OR any day. Maybe by turning down the A/C till its uncomfortable then using a portable space heater to get the relative humidity down will make it work better.

The main function of your A/C is to lower the level of humidity in the air. Humid air holds more energy (heat) and by lowering the amount of humidity in the air the air stays cooler. If you put in too big of an A/C unit it will only come on for a short period of time and not remove enough humidity. Turning on a space heater probably isn't going to help much in a quest to build up static electricity unless there's some law of physics I'm unaware of. A dehumidifier would probably be more useful.

 

[Steve2md]

I have seen powdercoated HPs. Usually, folks make a rack with nails and place the HPs point down on the nails and electro statically spray them. I'm sure it can be done with the Dry tumble/BB method as well, though you may end up with "ballistic tip" hps, like the corbons if you get a bb stuck in the HP.

 

[brody]

I've been messing with dry tumbling the last couple of weeks. From my reading on different forums and sites it seems that even though the coating looks spotty, the surface of the bullet is covered. So you may have an ugly slug but a functional one.

I also had very bad results trying to coat when humidity was over 20%. The process worked great one day and the next nothing would stick to the bullets. Keep trying and the process will work.

 

[Kernel]

a space heater probably isn't going to help much

The space heater is for what's called "reheat" in the industrial cooling/refrigeration biz. All it really does is force the A/C to run longer which leads to more dehumidification (more air changes). The practice is sometimes called "psychometric wringing".

 

[243winxb]

Powder Coating Cast Bullets - Safe?

http://www.pcimag.com/articles/the-effect-of-crosslinking-chemistry-on-superdurable-powder-coatings

Due to concerns with the toxicity of TGIC, powder coatings that contain more than 0.1% of the compound would have to carry a warning label that included the European Toxic label, which includes a skull and crossbones logo. The performance of TGIC in weathering is quite good, so this has significantly affected the use of the crosslinker in superdurable architectural coatings. If suitable replacements are found that can perform as well or better, they could be used to replace this compound. Clearly a need has developed in the European marketplace.

The United States does not yet have the same labeling requirement and there are no indications that a similar labeling requirement is imminent. However, most of the major powder coating producers operate globally and wish to have formulations that are universal. These requirements have encouraged North American producers to also look at alternatives to TGIC.

Is there TGIC in the above product? https://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_273775.html

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV) (2001)
(TLV listed under 1,3,5-Triglycidyl-s-triazinetrione)

0.05 mg/m3
TWA

H12 Health Factors and Target Organs


Hematopoietic effects (leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, platelet suppression, myelosuppression)


HE5

Male reproductive damage

Has anyone found the MSDS for the above produce?

 

[blarby]

chug some redbull and put some fast paced techno-style music on and just crank it out.

I approve

 

[243winxb]

Red Coated bullets

It seem kids are easily attracted to new, bright, shiny, red things. (definition of kids-anyone younger then me)

 

[hso]

TGIC is isocyanurate based as opposed to most of the bisphenol based epoxy resins. The manufacturer's very much want to label their TGIC products as TGIC because of the greater durability. Understand that the exposures are for pure TGIC as opposed to the mixture and that the exposure limits are for an 8hr continuous exposure. There aren't any acute exposure symptoms except being irritating to the eyes and that those exposure symptoms listed by OSHA are for chronic occupational exposure. Still, an MSDS would be handy to see if TGIC is in the Harbor Freight powder and how much TGIC if it were.

Be sure to always look at the product warnings before purchasing and using, but even the isocyanate based products can be handled safely IF you make sure to handle them where you will not breath the product in any significant quantity. That typically means out of doors or in a home made "fume hood" where clean air is drawn in and exhausted out away from you. Same goes for the "bake" phase where you'd keep the toss off toaster oven outside or in the same hood. Do allow the toaster oven to cool all the way down before opening in spite of your temptation to get that "fresh baked smell".

So, short version is never buy anything without looking at the product warnings, use anything questionable out of doors or in a fume hood, don't get hung up on the TLV/REL/PEL for a product unless you know exactly what percentage of the material of concern is in the product and what the volatility is in that mixture instead of the pure form.

 

[tyeo098]

Yeah. It smells pretty nasty so I just do it outside.

Natures fume hood

 

[Schwing]

I have a question for the O.P. I have powder coated several thousand bullets using the shake and bake method but I have never used anything in the container to generate static. The airsoft BBs are an interesting idea. Do you just keep separate containers for different colors and reuse the BBS?

I have seen some other folks who use copper BBS but they don't really create static as much as they "help embed the powder into the surface of the bullets". They are usually used in conjunction with a tumbler. They just place the entire container with the BBs, powder, and bullets into the tumbler and let it rip. I would be interested in knowing if you have tried this and how it compares.

 

[GBExpat]

tyeo098,

Thanks for the excellent write-up!

That is so simple that I may start accumulating the parts that I don't have on-hand and give it a try.

First thing, sourcing some unlubed lead bullets ...

 

[tyeo098]

Do you just keep separate containers for different colors and reuse the BBS?

I've only used red so far, and have mixed some black with the red...

I'm colorblind.
So no

I have seen some other folks who use copper BBS but they don't really create static as much as they "help embed the powder into the surface of the bullets".

Sounds like a great idea if that was how electrostatic powder application actually worked. Lol.

Rural, far beyond the beltway, Northern Virginia, USA

First thing, sourcing some unlubed lead bullets ...

I'm in Chantilly. If you know where that is I can whip up a batch for you sometime this week and drop it off xD

 

[GBExpat]

I thank you for your very kind offer but I have already been in touch with Ryan at Rocky Mountain Reloading. He says that he will be able to provide me some unlubed 230gr .45s ... I will start with 500.

Next, the Harbor Freight website for Red (and, maybe, a few other colors) PC powder and a few other items that I need for other projects. I shall wait until tomorrow for that.

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

Thanks tyeo, for a very nicely laid out set of instructions that has
me interested in giving PC bullets a whirl. (pardon the pun!)

Wanting to try Lymans 31141 without a check in my 30-30 with my reduced velocity load.

Couple of questions if you have the time. Found the answer on possible fumes from the baking.

Airsoft BBs - I'm guessing Wal-Mart? Just never have looked for them at all.

So, sizing does not crack the paint? Do the bullets seem to go through the sizer smoother than with Lee's liquid alox?
Or should I size them before coating?

JT

 

[Schwing]

I just ordered 5k BBs. I have never owned airsoft anything so I was pleasantly surprised that they were like $10 for 5k.

I have been pondering using items like packing peanuts or something along those lines for static but never tried it due to obvious mess issues. This is a great idea. Hopefully I get these by this weekend and I will give it a whirl.