Babbit Bearings

[WarnerConstCo.]

It turns out that my 30" jointer needed the bearings repoured.

First thing to do was buy a hunk of 4140 HTSR shaft to be used as a mandrel. Next, it and the cutter head had to go to my machinists so he could make it match the journals on the head and make me two retaining collars.

Then I poured bearings. I melted out the bottoms first, plugged wick hole an oil return wells, cut some 1/8" wood shims, blackened the shaft and pulled it tight to the top caps (used as a reference) and poured.

Flip over and pour the other bottom. Wait an hour and melt top caps out and repeat the process.

Later I will set the yoke in the machine, open up the wick and oil return holes, cut in some oil grooves, blue the shaft and then scrape the bearings in.

These will last me the rest of my life.

Here are some answers to a few questions I have been asked:

The mandrel is two fold, the cutter head is super freaking heavy and there is a possibility to spring the journals pouring the molten metal on them. I would not want to ruin that cutter block.

The collars were for two reasons, to keep the mandrel in place (I had to flip the shaft end for end to pour the opposite end bearings) and to help seal it. I only had to use some damming putty in a few places (the bluish purple stuff) to keep the babbit in.

I will blue the mandrel journals with high spot dye and spin it in the bearings I will scrape them to fit, 50% contact works. I also have to dig out the wick plugs, drill out the return holes and cut oil grooves.

I will replace the wood shims with paper shims, I can adjust the fit accordingly and remove shims over time as the bearings ware.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Finally had some time to get back on this.

I freed the yoke from its straps that bound it, brought it home and bolted it back in the machine.

Drilled out the wick slots and the oil return holes in the bottom bearings, also cleaned up the ends on all the bearings.

set the mandrel in the yoke, blued the journals and turned it several times.

Pull mandrel and proceed to scrape off the spots with blue.  Repeat.

One can be fairly aggressive with the scraping the first half dozen times.

Still need more work on the bottoms, do the tops and then cut oil grooves.

 

[Zacharytanner]

Very interesting

 

[mike_aa]

I applaud your efforts at keeping this traditional method alive.  I think that today, not many people even know what Babbit Bearings are or how they work.  You truly have to be very skilled to do this properly.  And it takes a bit of artistry and an understanding of science along with that skill.  Nice job!  Thank you for shedding light on these.

Mike A.

 

[mattfc]

I applaud your efforts at keeping this traditional method alive.  I think that today, not many people even know what Babbit Bearings are or how they work.  You truly have to be very skilled to do this properly.  And it takes a bit of artistry and an understanding of science along with that skill.  Nice job!  Thank you for shedding light on these.

Mike A.

Fully agree, learnt something new reading this thread

 

[peter halle]

Very interesting.  What is the metal that you melted and poured?  Lead?

Peter

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

It's babbit.  Babbit is made of three things, tin, lead an antimony. 

Different amounts of tin antimony will affect the bearing hardness.

 

[greg mann]

Darcy,

Once you get an acceptable amount of bearing surface is there an easy way to get the cutterhead parallel to the outfeed table?

 

[wow]

Other than authenticity, is there a reason why you don't just switch to pillow blocks with roller bearings? It seems like it would be a lot easier, but since I've never done it I could be WAY wrong...

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Darcy,

Once you get an acceptable amount of bearing surface is there an easy way to get the cutterhead parallel to the outfeed table?

Yes, the yoke is adjustable, up and down on both ends. 

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Other than authenticity, is there a reason why you don't just switch to pillow blocks with roller bearings? It seems like it would be a lot easier, but since I've never done it I could be WAY wrong...

I would never destroy a machine like that.  Babbit will run smoother then the porter 300c with abec 5 bearings that sits next to it. 

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I only had a couple hours yesterday to spend on this.  Hopefully I can finish them today.  The cutter head is freaking heavy.

I use high spot dye/bluing on the shaft and turn it in the bearings.

The blue will rub off onto the bearings where it touches (really high spots will have a shiny metal spot surrounded by blue). 

I am shooting for 50% contact.  I am also trying to make the journals have even contact from end to end on the bearings. 

Bearing scrapers:

 

[curt boyer]

Darcy,
I did a Master bath renovation this past summer and the husband is an old auto parts salesman. One of the guys I work with is an old mechanic and the two of them would talk about the good old days at lunch time. It was interesting and yet like listening to someone speak another language that you don't understand. The salesman would refer to his father whom owned his own service station and poured his own Babbitt. Until I saw a few of your posts about pouring babbitt, I didn't have any idea what he was talking about! Thanks for the education and all the cool heavy metal!
Cheers
Curt

 

[wow]

Other than authenticity, is there a reason why you don't just switch to pillow blocks with roller bearings? It seems like it would be a lot easier, but since I've never done it I could be WAY wrong...

I would never destroy a machine like that.  Babbit will run smoother then the porter 300c with abec 5 bearings that sits next to it.

I had no idea that babbit bearings were smoother, but I guess I can see how that would be. I can also see how the modern roller bearings became the 'norm' after looking at your pictures and posts. What you did is a LOT of work!

Are there any modern machines that use babbit bearings?

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I had no idea that babbit bearings were smoother, but I guess I can see how that would be. I can also see how the modern roller bearings became the 'norm' after looking at your pictures and posts. What you did is a LOT of work!

Are there any modern machines that use babbit bearings?

They most defiantly can be super smooth and quiet.  When they started designing machines with direct drive motors, ball bearings became the norm, although Sidney was one of the first to install ball bearings in a machine (their band saws, advertised SKF bearings).

Babbit should last a person a life time.  Oil bath ball bearings will last a really long time when kept oiled. 

The bearings in modern machines that most can afford to buy, are sealed, C3 clearance ABEC3.  They are not the best, price point is low and really seem to have a 7 to 10 year service life.  The bearings I put in my Whitney 77 table saw set me back almost 400 bucks.  Precision bearings in a direct drive jointer will usually run 600 bucks and up. 

ABEC 7 moulder bearings can be up to 500 each. 

I will have about 14 hours in pouring, scraping, and setting the machine back up.  Think I spent 250 bucks on the shaft, machine work, etc.

Last DD jointer I took apart and put back together took me 2 full days, for bearings.

Babbit is still used on some wear parts for adjustments, but for arbors, not any I can think of.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

The cutter head is heavy and no one likes to come over and help lift it out.  I did two rounds with the mandrel and then had help doing a pass with the head and so on. 

I lost track of how many times I did it.

Got the bottoms pretty good, gave the tops a going over by eye, set them and scraped each one a half dozen times.

Cleaned wells out really good, cut up a bunch of rag waste and stuffed it in the hollows of the well.  Added oil.

Cut new wicks (F3 grade wool felt) set the cutter head back in. 

Tomorrow I will cut some shims and set up the bearings.

Should be running again tomorrow.

I think I scraped 2 times after this:

 

[Iceclimber]

That is a just a beautiful thing you are doing...

Another 75 years and i bet very few have any idea how to do what it is you are doing.

I have a uncle that restores early 1900's Pierce Arrows. Quite a bit of machining goes into getting these cars both up and running and back to original condition. The group of guys and or company he keeps are mostly 50's plus men. Actually 50's is pretty young for the crowd into these cars. My guess is future generations will all but loose interest in these type things.

For instance he recently sold i think a 1930 something Cadillac V16 because all the guys at the meets all had 50's and newer cars. I guess a large majority of the cars being 70's and even 80's cars.

Anyway i like what you are doing. Its way over my head but something i would do to a old machine hands down if i knew how before swapping out for modern bearings without question.

 

[Laminator]

I had a Sawyer tell me of the days when the lumber he cut came out the end of the mill through a planer that had babbit bearings. He said it was the smoothest lumber you would ever see.  They replaced it with a more modern planer that never produced the quality of cut the old babbit planer did, but the bearings never melted when someone forgot to maintain the oil.  He told me that a properly oiled (maintained) babbit bearing could last a lifetime with NO slop or play.

 

[tallgrass]

As a mechanical engineer with a passion for machining, i have a love of scraping and the art that it is. babbit is a great material in all of its forms. it is still used in many high performance applications. planar bearing have manny advantages over ball bearings in a wide range of applications.

back to your work, does this machine have an external oil reservoir?  Does it have felt or leather seals? it brings a smile to heart to see work like this being done. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MTRANGER]

I think a video of the process would have been very interesting