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Charles L. Cotton wrote:

george wrote:The point of the carpet/silk scarf wiper is to make the drum apparatus itself into a Van de Graaf generator.

It will not build up much potential, because of the slow speed, but it shouldn't take much emf to adhere atomized paint to the bullets.

With out a ground wire to the carpet, the effect would eventually stop, since there would not be a consistent flow of electrons into the carpet, through the wire.

Someone smarter, help me out here.

Since swirling the powder, plastic BBs and bullets in a #5 plastic tub works well, I'll try this method first. It's certainly easier. I should be able to spin the bucket at pretty much any reasonable speed by selecting the appropriate motor and gearing. If I use an AC motor, I'll either need to get a geared motor or a VFD to control speed. I'd prefer a DC motor, but I'm not at all sure what torque I'll need when the thing is in production with a 40% load of mixture. I've read conflicting information about speed v. powder adherence to the bullets.

Chas.

WildBill wrote:I am new to this discussion, but I have a couple of thoughts.

My experience has been trying to eliminate static rather that generate it.

First, you want to lower the humidity so that the static doesn't disippate.

Grounding the drum would drain the static so I think that isolating the drum would be better.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

george wrote:The option of the Van de Graaf would get you all the potential you need.

You generate static forces by physically rubbing electrons off of one material onto another. That is how the Van de Graaf works.

If you are going to make a 5 gallon roller, then you just have to try several different "wipers" on the bucket. I would start with a piece of carpet first. Just allow it to lay across the bucket, so it makes contact. Probably would be best to have a ground wire to the carpet.

I have gathered the materials to begin the same process, sans the mass production scale you are proposing.

I thought you gave away all of your casting stuff 10 years ago.

I thought about the carpet wiper also and that would be easy to implement. I'm not sure how to use a Van de Graff generator and have the static charge in the 5 gallon bucket. The ones I've seen have a spark gap of no more than an one or two inches. Perhaps the lid for the bucket would have a lip that could be used to roll inside the spark gap, but that would require precise control of the bucket placement.

I gave away (actually an long-term lend) my casting equipment, but the guys with quit casting or decided not to do it. However, I plan to build something like the old Ballisti-Cast Mark II, or perhaps a Mark X except it would be motorized, so the gear I have now will probably be used for a relatively short time. We'll use a Star Lube/Sizer with an autofeed and it too will be motorized. (It's a good thing my buddy is good at designing equipment!)

If you're interested, search http://castboolits.gunloads.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for posts by JMorris and look at some of the equipment he designed and built. It's absolutely amazing what he has done.

Chas.