Lead vs. Babbit
 

I recently picked up an apple box full of scrap brass pins and chunks of
what I assume are mostly lead. All the bits came from the old box factory
that used to be in town (circa 1950 if I remember right) and I was
wondering if there was an easy way to tell the difference between lead and
babbit before I begin to melt any of it down. The babbit would be nice to
save for when the bearings on dads 32" bandsaw pack it in and they need to
be redone. Any info is much appreciated...


mike

"Michael" wrote in message
news:XTghe.54720$vN2.17663@clgrps13...
and I was
wondering if there was an easy way to tell the difference between lead
and babbit before I begin to melt any of it down.

Babbit is an alloy of any number of combinations of lead, tin, antimony,
zinc, cadmium, copper and so on. Basically any of the white metals with
small amounts of other metals to harden it. As such, it will have a wide
melting point (slushy range), as opposed to pure lead which melts at 620°F.
If the lead is good and pure, it will also solidify with a nicely
crystalline surface. Pure lead is also very soft.

Aside from that, I'm sure there are chemical tests you can try. Can always
try a drop of muriatic acid on a cleaned surface of each piece and see what
it does. (Lead should turn white or gray, alloys may turn black or produce
a colored solution. Yes I know, very definitive!)

Tim

--
"California is the breakfast state: fruits, nuts and flakes."
Website: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms

Tim Williams wrote:
"Michael" wrote in message
news:XTghe.54720$vN2.17663@clgrps13...
and I was
wondering if there was an easy way to tell the difference between
lead
and babbit before I begin to melt any of it down.

Go to: engineads.com, that is a site for old hit and miss engines,
there are links in there to forums that will get you the answers you
need.
Tom

The babbit will have a higher Brinell hardness so it will not dent as
easily. It also tends to stay shiny more than lead as well as have a whiter
color than lead.

--
Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

On Sat, 14 May 2005 14:40:40 -0700, "Bob May"
wrote:

Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

The formation of the ozone hole over Antarctica is a consequence of
the special atmospheric conditions which occur there, in particularly
the very low stratospheric temperatures (below -80°C), the isolated
wind patterns and the presence of continuous sunlight after the
September equinox. Every summer (December to January) the hole repairs
itself when stratospheric temperatures rise and the air above
Antarctica mixes with the rest of the world's atmosphere. This cycle
of ozone hole formation and reparation is repeated every year. The
ozone hole over Antarctica has been forming every year since the early
1970s. In recent years the hole has become both larger and deeper, in
the sense that more and more ozone is being destroyed.

Every March to April during the Northern Hemisphere springtime
similar, but less pronounced ozone hole forms above the Arctic. The
natural circulation of wind - the polar vortex - which isolates
Antarctica from the rest of the world during the Southern Hemisphere
winter and early spring, contributing to the ozone loss there, is much
less developed in the Northern Hemisphere above the Arctic. In
addition, stratospheric temperatures there are not as low as in the
Antarctic, and consequently the loss of ozone is not as severe.
However, the formation of even a moderate ozone hole above the Arctic
region can give cause for considerable concern due to the greater
populations in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Atmosph...zone_Hole.html

"John Ings" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 14 May 2005 14:40:40 -0700, "Bob May"
wrote:

Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

The formation of the ozone hole over Antarctica is a consequence of
the special atmospheric conditions which occur there, in particularly
the very low stratospheric temperatures (below -80°C), the isolated
wind patterns and the presence of continuous sunlight after the
September equinox. Every summer (December to January) the hole repairs
itself when stratospheric temperatures rise and the air above
Antarctica mixes with the rest of the world's atmosphere. This cycle
of ozone hole formation and reparation is repeated every year. The
ozone hole over Antarctica has been forming every year since the early
1970s. In recent years the hole has become both larger and deeper, in
the sense that more and more ozone is being destroyed.

Every March to April during the Northern Hemisphere springtime
similar, but less pronounced ozone hole forms above the Arctic. The
natural circulation of wind - the polar vortex - which isolates
Antarctica from the rest of the world during the Southern Hemisphere
winter and early spring, contributing to the ozone loss there, is much
less developed in the Northern Hemisphere above the Arctic. In
addition, stratospheric temperatures there are not as low as in the
Antarctic, and consequently the loss of ozone is not as severe.
However, the formation of even a moderate ozone hole above the Arctic
region can give cause for considerable concern due to the greater
populations in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Atmosph...zone_Hole.html



And what does this have to do with my question???

by the way thanks for the info so far


mike

On Sat, 14 May 2005 14:40:40 -0700, "Bob May"
wrote:

The babbit will have a higher Brinell hardness so it will not dent as
easily. It also tends to stay shiny more than lead as well as have a whiter
color than lead.


Its very hard to tell at times without a chemical analysis. I picked
up 300 lbs of what was supposed to be #2 lead alloy. On a hunch I took
it down to the local lab and had a friend run a couple samples
throught the spectrograph...sigh...nickle tin babbit...damnit.

Gunner

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling
which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight,
nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being
free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
- John Stewart Mill