[Steam-engine] Pouring Bearings

[Andy glines]

Looks like I will have to respond to myself.  I was
really hoping to hear from some of you regarding my
questions about babbit temp and shell preheat.  I am
still trying to figure out how to preheat the shaft
with the bearing cap in place.  Any tips that you
folks care to share with the novice?  

--- Andy glines <pioneersop96 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I took the plunge and tried my hand at pouring
> bearings Sunday afternoon.  I started with the shaft
> that drives the wheels because alignment isn't
> critical on the Huber design.  So far, I have only
> poured one half of the two bearings.  I have learned
> a
> few things and now have a few questions.  I learned
> that I can't trust Babbitrite to stay stuck to the
> shaft and shell unassisted.  Dad was preheating
> while
> I melted  babbit.  When the shaft and shell got good
> and hot the Babbitrite fell off.  We were able to
> secure more putty without losing preheat. This time
> the putty was secured with wire and plumper's tape. 
> The bread pan I placed under the shell turned out to
> be a very good thing when a plug in an oil hole blew
> out.  The pan caught the babbit and it was easily
> recovered.  I am using the book "How I Pour Babbit
> Bearings" by Gingery for reference.  Using the
> book's
> suggestions the shell was preheated until a piece of
> solder just started to melt and the shaft heated to
> about 300 deg.  I am using tin-based babbit so I
> heated it until my wooden stir stick caught fire. 
> The
> cooled product looks pretty good.  The ends of the
> new
> bearing are nice and shiny but it is dull gray near
> the center where the cooling was a bit slower.  I
> think that I may have been a little hot on my
> preheat
> and my babbit and plan to back off on temperature a
> little when I pour the caps.  One thing in my book
> confuses me a little.  The book tells us that
> tin-based babbit should be poured hotter than
> lead-based.  I thought that lead has a higher
> melting
> point than tin???  Is the book backwards?  We used a
> propane weed burner for preheat and found that it
> works very well.  I'm getting ready to pour the
> caps. 
> I will shim the caps and secure them to the top
> casting.  I can preheat the shell OK but how do I
> preheat the shaft with the bearing cap in place?    
> 
> Andy Glines
> Evansville, IN
> 
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Andy Glines
Evansville, IN

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