I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have seen
better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for re-pouring
my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

LLoyd

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in message
...
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have
seen better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for
re-pouring my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

No direct experience, but I uploaded this booklet from the 1920's a while
back to the Metal Web News site:

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/babbitt/babbitt.html

and it might be a good start.

Also, those that work with vintage woodworking tools seem to deal with this
fairly often and you can find some material on this site:

www,owwm.com

ands specifically he

http://www.owwm.com/FAQ/Default.asp

BTW, the OWWM site has a rather extensive collection of old manuals,
catalogs, and brochures. Mostly for old woodworking tools but there is some
stuff on dual purpose tools like drill presses and bandsaws.

Mike

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...

No direct experience, but I uploaded this booklet from the 1920's a while
back to the Metal Web News site:

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/babbitt/babbitt.html

and it might be a good start.

Thanks! That is a good start. Now, anyone with experience to lead me away
from stupidity? G

LLoyd

Lindsay has some books on the subject; some from the famous Gingery family.
www.Lindsaybooks.com

Bob Swinney
"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in
message ...
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have
seen better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for
re-pouring my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

No direct experience, but I uploaded this booklet from the 1920's a while
back to the Metal Web News site:

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/babbitt/babbitt.html

and it might be a good start.

Also, those that work with vintage woodworking tools seem to deal with
this fairly often and you can find some material on this site:

www,owwm.com

ands specifically he

http://www.owwm.com/FAQ/Default.asp

BTW, the OWWM site has a rather extensive collection of old manuals,
catalogs, and brochures. Mostly for old woodworking tools but there is
some stuff on dual purpose tools like drill presses and bandsaws.

Mike

Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have seen
better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for re-pouring
my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

LLoyd


The biggest thing is to have a system in place for aligning the spindle
with the bed of the machine before the pour. You can turn some
discs with a ring that is a tight fit into the ends of the spindle
and a center-drill on the opposite side. Then you can put candle smoke
on the spindle and do the pour pretty much to final size.

The other way is to make an undersize mandrel, and pour the babbit
to an undersize diameter, and then hand scrape to obtain correct
alignment of the spindle.

Setting up the tailstock with the disc to align the chuck end of the
spindle is pretty obvious, but what do you do to position the
back end? You'll just have to construct something.

Jon

molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)

b.w.



"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in message
...
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have
seen better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for
re-pouring my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

LLoyd

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:14:08 GMT, "William Wixon"
wrote:

molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)


What I find incredible is the fact that they where able to get lead
to 9,000 deg F. I think that might be a little tough to do.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm

well, when i googled it i went directly to the article, just now when i
tested the link it asked me to register.
the article from another source,


Worker Falls Into Vat Of Molten Lead


(Wallkill, NY) AP 08/18/05 -- A worker was killed when he fell into a vat of
molten lead at an Orange County company.

State Police say Jose Sartillo, 24, of Middletown worked at the Revere
Smelting and Refining Corporation in Wallkill.

Police say Sartillo was working near the smelting kettle when he fell in at
about 1:00 a.m. Wednesday and was severely burned over his entire body.
Orange County Coroner Tom Murray says death was probably instantaneous.

He says the lead was 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating
how Sartillo fell into the vat.







"William Wixon" wrote in message
...
molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)

b.w.

yeah, me too, when i read that in the paper i remembered something someone
said here, can't remember exactly but was something like "if you want to
know how the news media can't get things right, just read an article about
something you know something about". but then again, i think the person who
was being quoted was intentionally exaggerating.



"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:14:08 GMT, "William Wixon"
wrote:

molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)


What I find incredible is the fact that they where able to get lead
to 9,000 deg F. I think that might be a little tough to do.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm

Okay, this is taking the thread OT a bit.

I cringe when I hear someone speak of a difficult task as having a steep
learning curve.

A steep learning curve was GOOD.

The learning curve originally meant the curve of manhours to produce
each unit, or the number of units produced per manhour, versus calender
time.

If it involved a lot of new skills, it took a long time for the number
of units per manhour to build up. If it was an easy transition, the
curve went up steeply.


The curve was also sometimes expressed as dollars to make each unit, but
the same basic idea held- a change to a new product that did not require
much in the way of new skills produced a rapid (steep) drop in costs per
unit.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:38:08 GMT, "William Wixon"
wrote:

well, when i googled it i went directly to the article, just now when i
tested the link it asked me to register.
the article from another source,


Worker Falls Into Vat Of Molten Lead


(Wallkill, NY) AP 08/18/05 -- A worker was killed when he fell into a vat of
molten lead at an Orange County company.

State Police say Jose Sartillo, 24, of Middletown worked at the Revere
Smelting and Refining Corporation in Wallkill.

Police say Sartillo was working near the smelting kettle when he fell in at
about 1:00 a.m. Wednesday and was severely burned over his entire body.
Orange County Coroner Tom Murray says death was probably instantaneous.

He says the lead was 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hmmmm.... I don't think so..............

************************************************** **********
Lead
Atomic Number: 82
Atomic Weight: 207.2
Melting Point: 621.43°F

Boiling Point: 3180°F

Density: 11.342 grams per cubic centimeter

************************************************** *******

So, much more likely a decimal displaced in the article.



The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating
how Sartillo fell into the vat.







"William Wixon" wrote in message
...
molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)

b.w.

In article ,
William Wixon wrote:



"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:14:08 GMT, "William Wixon"
wrote:

[ ... ]

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)


What I find incredible is the fact that they where able to get lead
to 9,000 deg F. I think that might be a little tough to do.

yeah, me too, when i read that in the paper i remembered something someone
said here, can't remember exactly but was something like "if you want to
know how the news media can't get things right, just read an article about
something you know something about". but then again, i think the person who
was being quoted was intentionally exaggerating.

Well ... let's see:

Lead: C F

MP 327.4 621.3
BP 1620 2984

So -- it was claimed to be at over three times the *boiling*
point. No way it would remain in an uncovered container (which would be
necessary for someone to fall into it) for long enough to do anything
reasonable with it.

However, I suspect that the actual temperature was 900 F (just a
slip of a decimal point), since they were alloying the lead with
something else, which in many cases requires a higher temperature -- at
least to start things going.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:

In article ,
William Wixon wrote:



"Wayne Cook" wrote in message
. ..

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 13:14:08 GMT, "William Wixon"
wrote:


[ ... ]


http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)


What I find incredible is the fact that they where able to get lead
to 9,000 deg F. I think that might be a little tough to do.


yeah, me too, when i read that in the paper i remembered something someone
said here, can't remember exactly but was something like "if you want to
know how the news media can't get things right, just read an article about
something you know something about". but then again, i think the person who
was being quoted was intentionally exaggerating.


Well ... let's see:

Lead: C F

MP 327.4 621.3
BP 1620 2984

So -- it was claimed to be at over three times the *boiling*
point. No way it would remain in an uncovered container (which would be
necessary for someone to fall into it) for long enough to do anything
reasonable with it.

However, I suspect that the actual temperature was 900 F (just a
slip of a decimal point), since they were alloying the lead with
something else, which in many cases requires a higher temperature -- at
least to start things going.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I suspect also - slip of the decimal point 'type setter error :-) '
or it was steel that was about to be leaded.

Perhaps the lead pot was entering the steel Ladle and the person was moving the lead pot...
Steel at 9000 is still 3x that of the temp of a Tuyere temp zone of 3630F.

So it has to be a 900.0 number and only lead.

Martin

Martin


--
Martin Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

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So -- the lead was 9000 degrees F. It must have been boiling very
vigorously.

Bob Swinney
"William Wixon" wrote in message
...
molten lead alloy...

in my local newspaper.

http://www.recordonline.com/archive/...8/revere18.htm

(i apologize if this is inappropriate and sensationalist.) (is pretty
incredible though huh?)

b.w.



"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in
message ...
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which have
seen better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for
re-pouring my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

LLoyd

"Lloyd E. Sponenburgh" wrote in
message ...
I have an old F.E. Reed 14" lathe, the headstock bearings of which
have seen
better days.

Do any of you know of some good references and/or techniques for
re-pouring
my babbit bearings?

(I ain't pullin' it apart until I understand what I'm getting into!)

LLoyd



Babbitt isn't that hard to work with. I have poured a few engine
bearings and a couple lathe head bearings. The biggest problem is
setting up the head and shaft in correct alignment before the pour. The
first one I did I made up a pair of adjustable V notch saddles that
could be clamped on the ways in front and the frame in the rear. Then
used a piece of round bar stock shimmed tight in the shaft. Used fine
thread bolts with jam nuts to jack the shaft in to position. Then
CLEANED up the old Babbitt and shaft VERY well. Cleaned out the head as
well. IF you have a headstock with shims add a couple in before you do
the final setup.Sooted the shaft with the torch (candle would also work)
and locked it all down. Dammed the front side with a small vent port on
top and dammed the back with a pour area left open. Used a heat lamp to
heat up the head so it was very warm before I heated the Babbitt up (you
can reuse the old that you removed and just add a bit to it and skim the
dross off). Then you just pour the Babbitt in ONE POUR. Don't stop once
you start. Pour until the Babbitt comes out the vent and the pour spout.
Let everything cool back down. Remove the damming material and the shaft
retainers and see if the shaft is where it should be. Clean off any soot
and oil your new bearing.
--
Steve Williams

Pacifism - The theory that if they'd fed
Jeffrey Dahmer enough human flesh,
he'd have become a vegan.



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Thanks, Steve. That seems to be a very straightforward method. Maybe I'll
pull the bearing caps off, and look underneath!

LLoyd

"Steve W." wrote in message
...

Babbitt isn't that hard to work with. I have poured a few engine
bearings and a couple lathe head bearings. The biggest problem is
setting up the head and shaft in correct alignment before the pour. The
first one I did I made up a pair of adjustable V notch saddles that
could be clamped on the ways in front and the frame in the rear. Then
used a piece of round bar stock ........

Where do you purchase babbit material?

"TheAndroid" wrote in message
oups.com...
Where do you purchase babbit material?

There are quite a few bearing supply houses that carry it and online
there are hundreds of places. I doubt if I'll have to buy any for a
while since a man who was going out of business sold me about 200 pounds
of 2 different types. Considering that many times you can remove and
reuse most of the original and add maybe 1/4 pound of new I'll be able
to handle a few repairs....



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On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:40:06 GMT, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
wrote:

Thanks, Steve. That seems to be a very straightforward method. Maybe I'll
pull the bearing caps off, and look underneath!

LLoyd
Lloyd- don't heat the babbit too ,long. Just long enough to get hot
enough to pour. I was taught to use a pine stick to check the temp.
When it just started to char the temp was correct. Stir before pouring
to make sure the alloy in homogenous.
ERS
"Steve W." wrote in message
...

Babbitt isn't that hard to work with. I have poured a few engine
bearings and a couple lathe head bearings. The biggest problem is
setting up the head and shaft in correct alignment before the pour. The
first one I did I made up a pair of adjustable V notch saddles that
could be clamped on the ways in front and the frame in the rear. Then
used a piece of round bar stock ........