Powder coat problem.

fiver

Well-Known Member
chuckle.
minute rice is a thing LOL,,, I won't keep nuthin but in my backpack.
regular rice is a lesson in time management and patience you don't soon forget.... crunch,, crunch,, crunch.
Dutch ovens are a godsend even if they do weigh about 93lbs an hour or so into a day long hike.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
There's chemistry lessons in there too .
Salt and sugar will raise the boiling point of water . At 4,000 ft and very close to saturation I once got 2 qt up to 210° to check a thermostat .
 

Ian

Notorious member
The thermocouple for bullets was my own, original idea. Like most of my original ideas, it turns out that the technique had already been done by many, many others long, long before me, which is one reason why I'm not wealthy. I got the idea from reading about contact thermocouples used for accurate PMT monitoring (and arrays of them for irregular parts) in the professional powder coating industry. So I guess it wasn't mine or original at all. But my Grandmother invented the thermocouple, my uncle invented powder coating, and I'm Batman. Anyway, it happened that I already had the necessary measuring equipment as part of my profession so the natural thing to do was put it to work on the bullets to take the guesswork out of curing the paint when I first started experimenting with the process.
 
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Ian

Notorious member
There's chemistry lessons in there too .
Salt and sugar will raise the boiling point of water . At 4,000 ft and very close to saturation I once got 2 qt up to 210° to check a thermostat .

Unless you were using your wife's favorite saucepan, engine coolant works pretty good too, at 50% mix ;)
 

Wolfman

New Member
Ian, I know what you mean. Ausglock was the one who came up with the wisecrack which started the thing for me in motion. I gave credit to him and called it the A.T.M. (Ausglock's thermocouple method) When that guy came back a month later and used my words it ticked me off. Since then I have found it better not to post (especially over on the other site). My granddaughter calls them the duck hunters club, they try and shoot down everything .My main goal was to help because it seems as if a lot of the guys were having trouble finding the right temp. But, even if you hand it to them very few use them. They follow the herd.You can take one of these gizmos and a p.i.d. and get pretty close curing temps. Powder coat to me is amazing stuff. I have tried hi-tek,bcb coating and powder coat. You can take a bullet with under cured powder and it will pass the hammer test. I feel more comfortable not posting but do enjoy looking at what everybody else has to say.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
There was a personal aversion to coolant on the stove ......I was between wives at the moment though , and the kids were wowwed by 17° ice in an open bowl on the counter .
 
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Ian

Notorious member
My granddaughter calls them the duck hunters club, they try and shoot down everything

Your granddaughter is remarkably perceptive. It wasn't that way there in the beginning and isn't that way here. This is the "can do" club whose founding members had enough of trying to be creative in negativity-land.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I like ''the duck hunters club'' simile,,,,,, I'm totally stealing that.
easier to explain than 'sky busters' too.
 
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STIHL

Well-Known Member
I agree with all the above. I never made but 1 post over there I dont think. I have read quite a bit,sometimes you have to read through the BS to find some facts. What pisses me off is the audacity some folks have to argue about things that they THINK, not necessarily know. I will do things the way I’ve been doing things and I’ll give my opinion, that’s all it is. Take it for what it’s worth to you, don’t tell me I’m an idiot or doing it wrong, I’m man enough to admit when I fudge it up, but my homemade projectiles go down range just fine 99% of the time and have actually surprised myself with some of the accuracy I have been able to achieve with some junk that got melted down and poured into a projectile.

Point being we all have our own way of doing things and I think all that post here on the regular mean well and mean no disrespect to a fellow shooter, and when you ask for help you get it, no crude remarks or bullshit, just real world experiences and genuine suggestions on what could have caused the issue at hand. I’m just happy I got sent this way by fiver and found a heck of a lot better place to talk about this hobby we all enjoy.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
D1FFE113-4F37-4B39-BF16-C0B9A6865CCF.jpeg
I picked up two new colors to try.


Yesterday, Was drizzly rainy not too hot but 100% Humidity. I decided to highlight coat some Tuscan Blk bullets with copper. Now Copper is translucent and usually coats like crap. BUT as a highlight its usually nice. 25/30 sec od swirling and dont ya know that powder completely and nicely covered that Tuscan Blk!!!! WOW! Bullets came out looking more Brown then copper but nicely covered! GO FIGURE!?!?

CW
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member

A Quick video showing colors. Translucent as expected. Ill try again with a White base a d with a same color base. Blue under blue...
The coated quick and completely.
CW
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Don’t apologize, you are not the problem.

I was skeptical on PC for many years. I tried it and still had doubts. Once I figured a few things out those doubts went away.
Running a brush then a dry patch down the bore of my CZ75 after 200 rounds with PC and seeing a shiny bore is good enough for me. The lack of lube based grunge all over is also a plus.
 

Wolfman

New Member
CW, here is a photo of the candy gold and candy red from the Powder coat store. I have a bag of the candy blue(not anodized) but for some reason have never tried it. The bullets in the photos are two coats. What is strange when I tried again I never could get the same results. I'll try and dig out some of the failed ones. Any id ideas why?
 

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CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
The longer and more the powder is in contact with just the air. The faster it degrades. This, as you describe is likely that result.

I like to Double bag all my powders. Also when removing powder and resealing fold out as much air as possible. Do same for second bag. I also use good 4mil bags. Much thicker and they get stiff. Thinner and you fave a Glad Freezer bag. (Which is OK too)

For "use" I very seldom use a heaping TBL spoon at a time. That amount will coat many many bullets. Also too much powder can actually inhibit good coating of bullets! I leave that in the shaker as I have one for every color. I do not mix containers. After some use or time if I find poor coating or splocky coverage. I simply toss out that small amount, clean container making sure it is 100% bone dry. Then add another TBL spoon of that color. Again making sure to fold out as much air as possible and properly sealing both bags.
This is important and why I have powder I bought when I started this that work as well now as when first opened.

Also swirl more than shake and I like 20/30 sec for a known "good" powder and up to a minute for problem powders. Remember swirl, longer and more surface contact builds static faster.

Hope this helps, Its what works for me.
CW
 
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