babbit

[Starvnhuntr]

A friend of mine was given a box of alloy labled babbit. about 10 lbs. Its softer than lead and melts at a very low temp. can anyone tell me if it is good for anything. maybe chamber castings or something?

[bangerjim]

It can be any for of the over 30 kinds of Babbitt!

Sorry my crystal ball is cloudy today.

Get an x-ray gun read on it..........the only reliable way of knowing. 10# is not that much to worry about.

banger

[RogerDat]

This page lists just a few of the Babbitt alloys, note how close the melting temps are, and how low also. Then note the wide diversity of alloy compositions. Rather a large spread there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbitt_(metal)

Also note the compositions listed, Babbitt can be a very nice addition to a casting pot. Or not if it is zinc based, which some bearing materials that may be called babbitt are. I would expect those zinc alloys to be harder and melt at higher temps but not feeling like looking them up. You can test with a bit of drain cleaner or pool acid. They fizz on contact with zinc.

So short answer - probably useful. If you note all the babbitt's are high in tin. No.1 would be about $100 worth of tin in 10# chunk. The lower grades are not bad alloy, just not super high Sn like the top grades.

More accurate answer - no way to know unless you can get a scrap yard to gun it for you. Or there is a guy in swapping and selling that will gun a BB sized sample in exchange for lead.

[rancher1913]

you might sell it on a steam engine site and buy something else for boolits. Babbitt alloys are always needed to pour new bearings in those beasts.