Bearing Babbit???

[Muskrat Mike]

I just acquired a bunch of WW ingots, Lead ingots and about 10# of what was called bearing babbit (sp?). Anyway the guy is getting out of casting and I bought most of his stuff. The bearing babbit he said took him forever to melt down into ingot's and he never got around to using it. It's lighter than lead and a whole bunch harder. How do I use it?
:coffee:
Mike

[leftiye]

I'm sorry to be being negative, But... If it's that hard, it probably isn't babbitt. If it melts high, it probably has something in it besides lead, tin, and antimony. Babbitt, and variants constitute the surface of all of the bearings since the model A Ford, when they were cast into the block. Babbitt is generally used to enrich the alloy with tin, and I've not heard of it having melting or alloying problems. And it's soft to the ole thumbnail test. Sounds like there might be some copper in there.

[Lloyd Smale]

I get bearing babbit from the local paper mill millwrights and they gave me alloy that was light and hard one time in the same ingots as the tin babbit they had came in. I had them test it and what it ended up being is zinc anodes for the condensors in the plant. Zinc is hard light and hard to melt. Be carefull and if theres a doubt toss it.

[Muskrat Mike]

When you bang an ingot of WW together with one of the "Babbit" the WW marks or gets an indentation but the "babbit" doesn't mark at all.:coffee:
He told me it was from a large bearing???

[Lloyd Smale]

cant swear to the fact you have zinc but all the tin based babbits ive gotten melted real easy.

[Muskrat Mike]

Maybe I'll just put them on hold or throw out. I got over 200# of clean ingots of WW and pure lead with the small amount of what he thought was babbit for .25/lb. so I can afford to chuck it if I have to.
Thanks Mike:coffee:

[Lloyd Smale]

if it doesnt melt easy its got to be either zinc or lead based babbit and there isnt enough tin in lead based babbit to help much with your mix anyway and it were lead based babbit it wouldnt be so hard.

[Lloyd Smale]

Lefty just about all babbit has a trace of copper in it but not enough to hurt anything when using it as tin for enriching an alloy
I'm sorry to be being negative, But... If it's that hard, it probably isn't babbitt. If it melts high, it probably has something in it besides lead, tin, and antimony. Babbitt, and variants constitute the surface of all of the bearings since the model A Ford, when they were cast into the block. Babbitt is generally used to enrich the alloy with tin, and I've not heard of it having melting or alloying problems. And it's soft to the ole thumbnail test. Sounds like there might be some copper in there.

[arkypete]

I've got two alloys of babbit metal. Being of a creative bent, I call them red babbit and blue babbit because one has a red cast and the other has a blue cast in the reflected light.
These two alloys have two things in common they are hard as bankers heart and they ring like a bell if tapped. Third commonality, they make wonderful cast bullets.
A while back I asked for more info on this sight and was informed that I was squandering tin and antimony casting bullets out of that alloy. So now I mix the babbit with my wheel weights to make really nice 375 and 30-06 bullets that are hard as an ex-wifes heart.
Don't throw the babbit away with out investigating.
Jim

[Muskrat Mike]

I've got two alloys of babbit metal. Being of a creative bent, I call them red babbit and blue babbit because one has a red cast and the other has a blue cast in the reflected light.
These two alloys have two things in common they are hard as bankers heart and they ring like a bell if tapped. Third commonality, they make wonderful cast bullets.
A while back I asked for more info on this sight and was informed that I was squandering tin and antimony casting bullets out of that alloy. So now I mix the babbit with my wheel weights to make really nice 375 and 30-06 bullets that are hard as an ex-wifes heart.
Don't throw the babbit away with out investigating.
Jim

What would be a good starting ratio to test it? 1#babbit to 10# WW??:coffee:

[drinks]

I researched babbitt some time ago.
There are about as many formulas for babbitt as there are for BBQ sauce, high lead, low lead, equal lead/tin, some copper, some nickel , some with both copper and nickel,antimony from 2% to 12%, you just need to find out how hard it, how low a temperature it melts at, more tin = lower temp.
If you can find the manufacturer and find some ads for the babbitt, you can get some idea, some times, some times, they just tell you it is a proprietary secret.

[felix]

Not all babbit flavors have copper. Those showing a red cast AFTER sitting for a while unattended DO have copper. The extra blue one is exhibiting a lead based babbit. ALL babbits have antimony and tin. Not all babbits have lead. Lead based babbit usually has 5-10 percent tin. If LIGHT and HARD to melt, it is ZINC until further investigation. If HEAVY and HARD, it is lead based babbit. If medium weight, and that is hard to tell if so, it is TIN and BISMUTH, the most valuable stuff on the planet. ... felix

[John Boy]

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=201268&pp=25 ... the metal talked about frequently. Mike, you really have to determine the type of babbit it is first. Some types are high tin content (84-87%) and you know the price of tin.

[arkypete]

What would be a good starting ratio to test it? 1#babbit to 10# WW??

That's about right. I drop two ingots into a 20 pound pot of wheel weights.
The bullets get dropped into a bucket of water from the mold.
A suggestion and it's none of my business but this alloy is to hard to use with pistol bullets. I use the alloy for rifle bullets at the very top end of velocity and pressure.
Jim

[Lloyd Smale]

felix. What do you use the bismuth for?
Not all babbit flavors have copper. Those showing a red cast AFTER sitting for a while unattended DO have copper. The extra blue one is exhibiting a lead based babbit. ALL babbits have antimony and tin. Not all babbits have lead. Lead based babbit usually has 5-10 percent tin. If LIGHT and HARD to melt, it is ZINC until further investigation. If HEAVY and HARD, it is lead based babbit. If medium weight, and that is hard to tell if so, it is TIN and BISMUTH, the most valuable stuff on the planet. ... felix

[Lloyd Smale]

mike if your going to try alloying this stuff dont do it in your lead pot. Take an old pot from the house thats a throw away and melt it in that. If it is zinc youll have a hell of a time with your pot for a good long time.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

To find out if it's zinc, you could try to melt just the babbit at 625-650 degrees. If it's zinc, it won't melt at those temperatures. Could save you ruining any of your lead ingots.

Dave

[felix]

Lloyd, bismuth is a heavy antimony when used is the same quantities. Used to make extra hard boolits that weigh the same as if using straight WW. In other words, bismuth negates the weight reduction when using tin, which must be used to make a tough boolit. In contrast, antimony will made a boolit grow; bismuth will keep the boolit the same diameter. ... felix

[Muskrat Mike]

To find out if it's zinc, you could try to melt just the babbit at 625-650 degrees. If it's zinc, it won't melt at those temperatures. Could save you ruining any of your lead ingots.

Dave

I heated up my Lee furnaces and had one with about 7-8# of pure lead in it. I got it to 700 and added one small ingot of the mystery metal. It melted but stayed on top like slush ice in a pond or lake. I fluxed and increased the the temp but it still wouldn't really blend into the mix. I gave up and skimmed the slush off the top fiquiring I had ruined the whole pot with zinc or something. Fluxed and stirred and it cast round balls and Lee's REAL bullets fine so I guess Ididn't ruin the pot but still don't know what I have.
Mike:coffee:

[Lloyd Smale]

does it cast well. Can it be added to lead to gain weight. Where do you find it?
Lloyd, bismuth is a heavy antimony when used is the same quantities. Used to make extra hard boolits that weigh the same as if using straight WW. In other words, bismuth negates the weight reduction when using tin, which must be used to make a tough boolit. In contrast, antimony will made a boolit grow; bismuth will keep the boolit the same diameter. ... felix

[Tom W.]

I work in a sawmill and have access to nickle babbitt. We aren't allowed by OSHA to have lead based babbitt at all.Our supplier is just 18 miles from the house, so when I need an ingot for my personal use, I just call him and he'll leave one on my truck at work. The stuff we have melts at about 530 degrees or so, and is very hard. It makes great bullets that give a new meaning to the term "hard cast", although that are light and have to be loaded accordingly. I'll also blend it with w/w metal and have some very hard ingots for bullets for my .44 and .480. I save the pure PB for my smokepole.

[454PB]

If you want to see the variety and composition of babbitt metals available today, check this site:

http://www.alchemyextrusions.com/babbitt/