Babbitt Time

[Steve D]

Today was the day to repour the Babbitts. After searching extensively I finally came up with a metal funnel, hard to find in this world of plastic. McRabbett came over to assist and it was terrific to have another pair of hands. The castings need to be heated at the same time the Babbitt metal is melted and then the 600 deg. molten metal needs to be poured into it's new home. The area also needs to have a dam to keep the liquid metal from pouring out. The area at the bottom has an oil reservoir and a wick keeps the shaft bathed in oil. This area had to be filled with dam material to prevent the bearing material from filling.



Filling the end (obligatory plaid)



McRabbett laying on the heat



We attempted to pour the whole bearing at once, it looked great at this stage but when we opened things up... not so good. We chiseled out our efforts and had to start over.



In round two, we decided to pour just the lower half of the bearings. This seems to have gone very well and we will have to get back together in the next day or so and pour the upper half.

 

[DaveO]

Cool, now I can see how that works. What is the Babbitt metal that is used? Like a lead compound? Did y'all use the Turkey fryer to heat the metal compound? If so that makes 102 uses for a good ol' turkey fryer.
Thanks for posting the pics.
Dave

 

[D L Ames]

Cool..........great job Steve.:icon_thum And great job capturing the your WIP even if you had to include a pic of Rob to make it seem legit. :lol: It sounds like your first pour was an attempt to pour the entire Babbitt in one pour. I thought that link you sent me the other night described doing it in two pours like your second attempt. Everything is looking great so far and I look forward to more WIP pix.

D L

 

[Travis Porter]

Looks good Steve. You are really going to suck once you get it operational. Next thing you know you will be the resident expert on OWWM.

 

[Gofor]

My hat is off to you. It takes a lot of guts for an undertaking like that. The last time I was back where I grew up, I visited with some of the guys I used to work with as a machinist back in 1968. According to them, the plant was taking the old machines we used back then and rebuilding them for the tool & die guys in the new design dept. Seems the old cast iron bases were more stable than the new stuff they could buy. Rebuilding them ended up with a machine that ran to closer tolerance, meaning less scrap. Looks like you'll be giving the USS Crescent new life for the new century!!.:-D

 

[Steve D]

The first attempt was the entire bearing at once. Some articles I read recommended doing them that way and others a half at a time. I asked the question at OWWM and got more responses suggesting all at once so we gave that a go. I'm sure that is better with smaller bearings but proved challenging for this size. You have a lot of metal to pre-heat, you have to deal with the air displacement (bubbling) and there is a fine line with the shims. You have to have a notch to allow the bearing material to flow top to bottom but too big and it is difficult to break them apart. Mine must have been too big because our biggest problem was breaking them apart. On one side the bearing broke loose from the upper shell and the other created a jagged break that dipped down into the lower shell. We probably could have just repoured the top on the one and the bottom on the other but opted to start over. The bearing metal chiseled out pretty easily and went back in the pot for re-use.

The jointer will definitely be prepped for another 100 years of service once complete. The OWWM site and it's members have been invaluable. I doubt I would have been able to pull together the information I have needed on my own. Ozzie-X, McRabbet and Woodguy have also been instrumental, lending engineering advice and/or physical labor to the process.

Dave - I used a product called "Magnolia anti friction Metal" that has been around for 120 years and is an alloy of tin, lead, "hardening metals" and graphite. Yes, this was use 102 for the turkey fryer burner. It makes a great Babbitt stove.

 

[woodguy1975]

Dude, that is awsome. It really looks like you are well set for the second pour. I hope it all goes well because I'm looking forward to some action photos of it running.:lol::lol::lol:

Great work, now get your homework done. :slap:

 

[McRabbet]

We did have a time preheating those bearing blocks! After Steve took the pic of me, we decided we were not getting it up to 50-50 solder melt temperature and I dashed home to get my propane torch so we could double up the BTU's (it was in the low 50's when we did this and heat loss was amazing). On the second pours, we had lots less cast iron to preheat, so the preheat process went much faster. Pics taken before Steve splattered my feet with babbitt metal -- no harm because it cooled instantly on my Levis and shoes, but I'll be picking out metal for weeks!
Rob

 

[Monty]

Nice! I certainly learned a lot with that post... now it makes more sense. Just look at the size of that cutter head!!! 8-O Can't wait to see how it cuts!

 

[erasmussen]

Wow last time i seen babbitt poured, was on some modle T rearings when i was a kid 8-O

 

[Ozzie-x]

Good going Steve (and Rob). That's really interesting and I enjoyed the tutorial. The babbitt is looking good. Should run smooth as silk. Keep us posted on the progress.

 

[Steve D]

Success! I popped the cutterhead out tonight and the lower halfs are in great shape. It took some elbow grease to rasp them off flush and clean them up. The metal is harder than I expected. I would put it somewhere between lead and aluminum. It took a lot of restraint not to pull out my good rasp for the job. I suffered through with a cheapie and got the motor side ready. Still need to file the other end but it is smaller and should go more quickly.

 

[McRabbet]

Steve -- Maybe this cold snap made it even harder! I don't envy you being outside or even in your garage with it in the 40's tonight. I can come over tomorrow night if you want to try another pour -- or Thursday if you need more prep time (of course, you've still got your WG homework, so don't make me rush you!). Glad to hear the second pour went well!

Rob

 

[D L Ames]

Glad to hear it is all working out for you Steve. That was a great tutorial link you provided covering this process.

D L

 

[Steve D]

Rob,
Let's do Thursday, I'm dedicating tonight to chair work and I'll complete the prp work for the pour so that all we need to do is heat, melt & pour. Make sure and bring your glitter shoes :lol: .

 

[michaelgarner]

i stare at my computer screen in aww,,all i know how to do is weld stuff and cut wood. Top notch gents, Top Notch.

 

[NCPete]

so humble. You are also doing your own share of WWM reconditioning. Not quite as old prolly, and maybe not as involved, but everyone that is brave enough has to start somewhere....
I am amazed at you both. Ambitious enough to tackle major reconditioning jobs on some pretty big machinery that represents a major investment for you both. Not sure if LOML would tolerate that kind of ambition.:lol:

 

[Travis Porter]

FWIW, might want to get MAPP gas instead of propane if you are not already using it. Supposed to get hotter.

 

[D L Ames]

FWIW, might want to get MAPP gas instead of propane if you are not already using it. Supposed to get hotter.

Ditto on the MAPP gas. I had to pick some up for a project once and it burns a lot hotter than propane.

D L

 

[Steve D]

It was Mapp gas but there is so much Iron there it was just sucking it away. With two torches it went well but one was not getting there.