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.
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.