The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Early 'Bolts (1916-1936 1st Half) Babbit bearings- - - - - -

Has anyone here experimented with making up their own "Babbit" type bearing alloys? Babbit is made up of mostly tin, with various percentages of lead, copper, and antimony added, depending on the intended use of the bearing it forms. Replaceable Babbit bearings are usually made with a steel or bronze backing, with a thin layer of Babbit bonded to the backing by pouring the molten alloy around a shaft or a mandrel that has been blackened with soot to facilitate removing the mandrel after the alloy has cooled and hardened. Then the alloy is scraped to a perfect fit to the shaft where it runs, using Prussian Blue indicator dye and a 3-cornered file with the teeth ground down to form a razor sharp scraping tool. Once the fit is correct, then shims are added to establish the correct oil clearance. It's a slow, tedious process, but it's a good skill to acquire if someone is going to tinker with antique engines, elderly machine tools, and other 100+ year old "big boys' toys"!
Jerry

Jerry, I have not, but have you found this site? Some interesting info there, and they have various babbit alloys available. Seems that most automotive babbit alloys were tin-antimony-copper alloys.

Back in the '60's I've had a Model A block re-babbited. Those were cast directly in the block, with some blind holes drilled in the crank bore to key the babbit in place.

Yes, Belmont, and also "Rotometals" have various bearing metal alloys available. I've been mixing my own bullet casting alloys for 30-something years, and I have a Brinnell hardness tester, so I've been considering trying my hand at mixing up an alloy suitable for using in antique engines. The copper and antimony are actually mixed into the molten tin as flour-fine powder, as their melting point is considerably higher than the tin. Stir- - - -flux- - - -skim- - - -then pour the bearing while the mixture is homogenous. Parrafin or candle wax makes a good fluxing compound. It's usually a good idea to "tin" the backing shell with acid core solder to assure there's a good bond between the backing and the Babbit. The backing shell will have a series of dimples or holes drilled into it to anchor the soft metal securely.
Jerry

I just had my first, and probably my last conversation with Belmont Metals. "Brooklyn Noo Yawk" in their address should have given me a clue what I was about to experience. Any attempt to get beyond what's published on their website about the suitability of a particular alloy for use in an antique engine got the same rude, condescending answer that "We don't recommend which alloy to use!" Their loss, not mine. I've had several very helpful conversations with very knowledgeable people at Rotometals- - - - -I'm going to continue doing business with them! Acting like you're doing me a favor to take my money IS NOT the way to do business with this old Tennessee Ridgerunner!
Jerry

They probably learned the hard way that when they make a recommendation and it subsequently goes south-whether or not the alloy was the problem-they got the blame for it.

Or, maybe they're just rude and arrogant. Either way, thy just ran off a potential customer.
Jerry

Could be that, too. Their loss.

I am a small business owner, so I understand about having to be nice to your clients :-)

Maybe it's just a case of arrogant overconfidence- - - -but I believe I can cobble up my own high speed Babbit alloy mix. I've got the three basic components- - - -either already on hand, or on order. I've already got the equipment for melting and casting- - - -just have to clean up a melting pot that's been used for lead bullet casting.
Jerry

The chef is in the kitchen .... Take some pics, please!

What is Babbit? Lead, copper, tin? The last place I dealt with this was in auto shop back in high school. 35 years ago.

Here's a thread at the old VCCA Chatter website that discusses babbitt bearings. The engine they are talking about is a 1929 Chevy, but the discussion is relavent.

Here's a link to it: https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/481126/29-engine-help-crank-and-babbitts.html

Cheers, Dean

See post #2 in this thread.