Re: [bolger] Re: Babbitt?
Chris Crandall wrote:
really expensive. I bought it to make bearings for the battle ships
that were taken out of Mothball back in the mid 1970's and as best I can
remember it cost between $6.00 and $16.00 per pound back then. I you
have any I would sell it to a scrap yard and buy lead.
Doug
>The big problem with babbit for ballast aside from being light it is
> Babbitt (an alloy typically used in babbitt bearings) isn't anything in
> particular, but rather a collection of different alloys. Wikipeida
> lists three common alloys:
>
> 90% tin 10% copper
> 89% tin 7% antimony 4% copper
> 80% lead 15% antimony 5% tin
>
> The first two are less desirable, because tin is lighter than lead, but
> that last one is not at all uncommon, and makes a pretty good substitute
> for pure lead (but it would be stiffer, which might be a good thing,
> depending).
>
> Generally, if you melt your own lead, alloys that have antimony won't
> melt the lead (tin melts faster than lead--which melts about 320 degrees
> celsius), but antimony's melting point is around 630 degrees.
>
> For the homebuilder, pure lead is probably your best bet.
>
>
really expensive. I bought it to make bearings for the battle ships
that were taken out of Mothball back in the mid 1970's and as best I can
remember it cost between $6.00 and $16.00 per pound back then. I you
have any I would sell it to a scrap yard and buy lead.
Doug
Babbitt (an alloy typically used in babbitt bearings) isn't anything in
particular, but rather a collection of different alloys. Wikipeida
lists three common alloys:
90% tin 10% copper
89% tin 7% antimony 4% copper
80% lead 15% antimony 5% tin
The first two are less desirable, because tin is lighter than lead, but
that last one is not at all uncommon, and makes a pretty good substitute
for pure lead (but it would be stiffer, which might be a good thing,
depending).
Generally, if you melt your own lead, alloys that have antimony won't
melt the lead (tin melts faster than lead--which melts about 320 degrees
celsius), but antimony's melting point is around 630 degrees.
For the homebuilder, pure lead is probably your best bet.
particular, but rather a collection of different alloys. Wikipeida
lists three common alloys:
90% tin 10% copper
89% tin 7% antimony 4% copper
80% lead 15% antimony 5% tin
The first two are less desirable, because tin is lighter than lead, but
that last one is not at all uncommon, and makes a pretty good substitute
for pure lead (but it would be stiffer, which might be a good thing,
depending).
Generally, if you melt your own lead, alloys that have antimony won't
melt the lead (tin melts faster than lead--which melts about 320 degrees
celsius), but antimony's melting point is around 630 degrees.
For the homebuilder, pure lead is probably your best bet.