Powder coating

[Buck98]

I have been casting for several years and finally decided to start powder coating. Any suggestions on what type of PC? Any tips? I have been looking into this and have read several articles about different things that others are doing. Any advice would be appreciated. I have Read about using certain types of containers, adding air soft pellets, standing the bullets up before heating them up, not standing them up when heating them.
Thanks to all who respond in advance.

 

[MR.T.]

I stand mine up in rows when I powder coat mine. I set the bullets in rows on a sheet of aluminum foil. I like the red, but that's hard to find now, white is good.
Spray the powder on them, place in the oven, wait for the powder to flow, usually around 430 to 450 degrees. Turn of oven and let cool.
I've only ever coated 9mm and 38/357 and 44 mag bullets.

 

[swampratt]

I shake and bake mine.

I use this container after it is empty of course.
About handful of bullets
1 Tablespoon of Eastwood Ford Light Blue since HF red is no longer made.
Swirl the bullets in the container quickly with lid on and tight for about 20 seconds or so.

Remove lid and look at bullets. They should all be coated.

I then rub my clean dry fingers in the powder that is on the side of the container.
I pick up bullets with dusted fingers and place them on the cookie pan that goes in the toaster oven.

That pan has parchment paper on it cut to fit.
Bullets do not stick to parchment paper.
I place them on their bases nice and neat.
20 minute cook time in my preheated Toaster oven.

Eastwood states 400 F at 20 minutes.

I have not checked my oven temp but if I am at 375 on the dial it works excellent.
400 browns up my parchment paper.
That paper is rated at 420-450 f.

I turn it off and leave the door closed to cool down.

I then size them through a Lee push through sizer.
If you can't find the correct size you want you can hone/polish those to a custom size but i bet Lee will also do that for you.

Lead needs to be fresh and clean and dry to allow the coating to stick well.
If the lead is old and chalky it will not work.
If you touched the lead bullets with oily/clamy fingers it will not work as well.

If you are having issues you can warm the bullets with a hair drier before you put them into the plastic container.

No plastic BB's needed.
I have coated thousands of lead bullets this way.

 

[crapsguy]

I have been casting for several years and finally decided to start powder coating. Any suggestions on what type of PC? Any tips? I have been looking into this and have read several articles about different things that others are doing. Any advice would be appreciated. I have Read about using certain types of containers, adding air soft pellets, standing the bullets up before heating them up, not standing them up when heating them.
Thanks to all who respond in advance.

I powder coat all of my bullets -use the shake & bake method - dump out of the shaker onto a small strainer [Chinese food type] - shake the excess powder off - and dump them onto a 1/4" wire mat that fits into my toaster oven - you can dump them into a pile spread across the mat and they will mostly come apart when I dump them over into the sink with water in it and a small towel in the bottom - pick them up in the towel and mush them around by hand to help separate them - then size them and load them -- I lube/size one of them because it is a special situation

 

[deerstalker]

Same here! I use the shake and bake method, NO plastic bb's , I dump them onto a bowl shape screen wire bake around 350 degrees for 20 minutes. experiment with it and try different things. I have tried a piece of a Walmart plastic sack tossed into the plastic bowl to create more static for the powder to adhere to..

 

[rickm]

I bought 2 #'s (containers) of the HF red and white years ago when i first started experimenting with powder coating and have tried several different methods some worked and some didnt do as well as i liked, i have never tried using the white so they are still full containers and sealed, have opened 1 red and used some of it but is still 90% full, i even tried the spray paint and bake it worked ok but have to do 2 coats to get a good covering, the plastic air soft bb's i wasnt to fond of but only tried it once with not very good results but could have been the container i used to, havent really tried any of it in some years but i need start doing it again when i have more free time.

 

[turkeyrun]

As stated above: 400° for 20 minutes

EASTWOOD for powders, about ANY color you could ever want and top quality.

Harbor Freight RED was an outstanding powder and cheap, but they discontinued it. The black is fairly good. Others are crap.

A good plastic container (butter bowl) or Tupperware with a good lid is all that is needed. I take a couple of Styrofoam peanuts and break into thirds.

The process can get as involved as you want or keep it simple. Consistency means repeatable results.

 

[Buck98]

Same here! I use the shake and bake method, NO plastic bb's , I dump them onto a bowl shape screen wire bake around 350 degrees for 20 minutes. experiment with it and try different things. I have tried a piece of a Walmart plastic sack tossed into the plastic bowl to create more static for the powder to adhere to..

I was reading about the plastic air soft BB’s creating more static electricity and was curious about what others were thinking. Also read where one person said they wear wool socks and drag their feet across the carpet while shaking the container to create more static electricity.

 

[Camo]

I shake and bake mine.
View attachment 476062

I use this container after it is empty of course.
About handful of bullets
1 Tablespoon of Eastwood Ford Light Blue since HF red is no longer made.
Swirl the bullets in the container quickly with lid on and tight for about 20 seconds or so.

Remove lid and look at bullets. They should all be coated.

I then rub my clean dry fingers in the powder that is on the side of the container.
I pick up bullets with dusted fingers and place them on the cookie pan that goes in the toaster oven.

That pan has parchment paper on it cut to fit.
Bullets do not stick to parchment paper.
I place them on their bases nice and neat.
20 minute cook time in my preheated Toaster oven.

Eastwood states 400 F at 20 minutes.

I have not checked my oven temp but if I am at 375 on the dial it works excellent.
400 browns up my parchment paper.
That paper is rated at 420-450 f.

I turn it off and leave the door closed to cool down.

I then size them through a Lee push through sizer.
If you can't find the correct size you want you can hone/polish those to a custom size but i bet Lee will also do that for you.

Lead needs to be fresh and clean and dry to allow the coating to stick well.
If the lead is old and chalky it will not work.
If you touched the lead bullets with oily/clamy fingers it will not work as well.

If you are having issues you can warm the bullets with a hair drier before you put them into the plastic container.

No plastic BB's needed.
I have coated thousands of lead bullets this way.

I learned from you and I still do it the same way. Works great.

 

[Buck98]

I learned from you and I still do it the same way. Works great.

Well hell if you learned it from the Mighty Rat it has to be correct. LOL!!