Babbitt?

[baogongmeo]

Got some babbitt today. I had thought it was worn bearings, but instead, it's 5lb ingots.

Here's a pic next to some 1lb Lyman lead ingots I made (for perspective):



I checked United American Metals Corp website. I guessed COMPLETELY wrong on this stuff! It IS lead based.

Their Stonewall Babbitt is alloyed as follows:

10% Tin
14 3/4% Antimony
1/4% Copper
1/2% Arsenic
Balance (74 1/2%) lead

Pretty low tin content, unfortunately, but I can work with it, I would think?

If you don't get all that you can you're going to regret it later.

[tddeangelo]

He got all he could, and it might be all that's left. He'll keep an eye out for more and see if he can get more, but it might be all gone. The mill he works at changed up how they do bearings, and they aren't getting ingots anymore. The leftovers have been picked over at this point, but there may be some to be scrounged yet. If so, he'll get them for me. He brought me four 5-lb ingots today.

[RogerDat]

Pretty high tin content when you consider that linotype is only 4% Sn and 12% Sb and your Babbitt is hitting 10 Sn and 14 Sb, plus a little copper to toughen things up. Then a little arsenic to enhance heat treating / water dropping if you wanted to go that route.

So yes a really nice alloy for sweetening your other stuff. Using the alloy calculator from here.

3 oz. Pewter.
9.75 lb. plain lead
5.0 lb. your Babbitt

yields 15 lbs. of Lyman #2 at 5/5/89.7 + the tiny (but useful) amount of copper and arsenic. BHN of 14.7

Not exactly solder or pewter for "tin" but a most useful score. Congratulations.

[Buck Neck It]

Some guys get all the luck. Pardon me while I eat my liver. Do you have any extra?

[justingrosche]

Babbit bearing races are pretty easy to spot. Everyone I've ever seen has the grease zirc in the 12 O' clock position, while newer roller or brass races have them in the 2 O' clock position. I work in a steel mill as well and hunt for Babbitt in the scrap piles when I can.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Railroads used babbitt for axle bearings on rail cars. A good friend worked as a machine repairman with GM they were doing babbitt bearing in the main stamping plant into the 1990`s. Robert

[country gent]

Railroads, ship yards, machine shops, printing shops and used alot of babbit early on into the late 40s or 50s when roller bearings started taking over. Babbit was used due to the ease of fitting and working it. Lathe bearings mill bearing shapers and planers. Ship and rail cars bearings thrust and radial were all babbit. Could be poured fairly close to sive then machined and handscrapped to dead on fit accuracy. It makes good alloy for hardening bullet alloys and such. It can contain copper lead tin antimony bismuth silver and other materials