babbit ?

[jetsfan-24]

have a buddy thats works @ a foundry that gave me some ingots no marking on them he thinks they r babbit how can i figure out what they r ?

[John Boy]

Jetsfan, your buddy working at a foundry will have a lab to analyze metal composition. Give him a piece and have it analyzed

[bobthenailer]

The last time i checked there were 13 different grades of BB ranging form mostley tin to mostley lead. what ive come across over the years came out about 30 to 33 bhn.

[clintsfolly]

Just hardness test if you can. If not test for Zinc. After that add a small piece to a pot and see how it casts. Just keep track of what you do to be able to reproduce the mix.The worst thing that can happen is you lose a pot of lead! Clint

[Tom W.]

If it's anything like we used at the sawmill, it's 90% or better tin, with a bit of nickle to go along.

[shotman]

as said there are several types . If what you have is silver color most likely has lot of tin . if it is silver and hard has lot of antimony
If it is copper color tint, has 75% copper with tin or antimony
the copper colored will be hard to melt

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

I have to disagree with shotman, I have some Merit Babbitt, which is 10 % tin, 16 % antimony, and 74 % lead and it is very hard and somewhat silver in color, or at least not nearly as grey as pure lead. But color and hardness don't really matter all that much, the fact is that Babbitt can be so many different alloys that you need a more definite way of finding out. This may be a stupid question, but have you asked your friend if he knows any more information about the alloy? If he was able to give it away I'm inclined to think it isn't a tin based babbitt.

[jetsfan-24]

i asked and he does,nt know any more about it said it,s been their for more than 15 years thats how long he,s worked their

[garrisonjoe]

Time to trot the ingots down to the largest metal recycling facility and have them shoot an analysis or two with their metal analyzer.

Babbitt is all over the board in composition.

[mainiac]

Ive been farting around with babbit on and off for a few years. Want to mention one thing.......

Ever since i started using babbit, the spout on my rcbs pot freezes,and i have to have a propane torch handy,to get it running again.Ive cleaned the hole,and the needle and it still does this. Babbit done something to my pot,

[garrisonjoe]

Ive been farting around with babbit on and off for a few Ever since i started using babbit, the spout on my rcbs pot freezes,and i have to have a propane torch handy,to get it running again.Ive cleaned the hole,and the needle and it still does this. ,

Babbit is probably not the culprit - sounds exactly like calcium contamination. Clean the pot thoroughly, clean the rod, and cast a little hotterfor next batch. My RCBS pot does the same when I run into some range lead where the morons have been shooting maintenance-free battery contaminated alloys.

Babbit can be a high tin or copper or antimony lead alloy. The copper can certainly cause casting problems, but it should not "hang around" unless you are leaving metal in the bottom of the pot after casting a contaminated batch. Make sure you clean out all metal and don't reuse it if you have a major casting problem with a pot of metal.

[spfd1903]

There is a very informative article on babbitt by Glenn Fryxell at lasc.com. Good information on issues with copper. Good point already mentioned is to ask for an analysis of a sample at a recycling company. I have taken several samples of solder and mystery ingots to the place near me. The manager does it for free and gives me a copy. Can take several weeks for him to get around to it, but the info is worth it. "Babbitt" is all over the spectrum.

[arkypete]

as said there are several types . If what you have is silver color most likely has lot of tin . if it is silver and hard has lot of antimony
If it is copper color tint, has 75% copper with tin or antimony
the copper colored will be hard to melt

I picked up 50 70 pounds of the copper colored babbit. I made some bullets for my 375 Whelenm they are the hardest slugs I've ever shot. Think of them as armour piercing. This alloy makes beautiful bullets.

Jim

[MikeyPooh]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was just about to start a new one but I figure I might as well stick my question here...

Are these babbit ingots? Google doesn't tell me anything about "Pennant antifriction." I take it I will need to get them XRF'd to know for sure what the alloy is.

http://imageshack.us/a/img685/6710/img6978800x600.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/img6978800x600.jpg/)

[deltaenterprizes]

I think there is a good chance that it is. Anti friction would indicate that it is used with moving parts.

[bumpo628]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I was just about to start a new one but I figure I might as well stick my question here...

Are these babbit ingots? Google doesn't tell me anything about "Pennant antifriction." I take it I will need to get them XRF'd to know for sure what the alloy is.

It looks like babbitt - based on the "anti-friction" name.

This site references another company's "anti-friction" metal and even give percentages: http://wiki.vintagemachinery.org/BabbittIDGuide.ashx#Magnolia_Anti-Friction_Metal_5

You may be able to get more info if you contact someone from their main page. They have a discussion forum and a for-sale section. http://www.vintagemachinery.org/

If you want to use it, I would just use the Magnolia Anti-Friction Metal numbers and call it good. ----> Lead 80%, Tin 5%, Antimony 15%