[SEL] Babbitt pouring question for an Alamo engine.

[Judge Tommy Turner]

Curt,
    I've never used the tinning flux and have never had a problem with a 
bearing coming loose, etc.  Many (maybe all) of the bearings I've poured 
have been into unmachined, raw cast bases.  In most, they have had an 
indention area on the casting or have been spot bored into the cast 
surface to "lock" the babbitt in place.  When I say I pour them cold, 
they are still quite hot.  I distinctly remember pouring an 8 HP Type N 
Fairbanks several summers ago.  I sat the base out in the sun for 
probably 5 hours before I made the pour.  I don't know for sure but 
would gess it was probably 150 plus degrees when I poured the babbitt 
(it was hot enough that I didn't want to put my hand on it and leave it 
there).

    I usually use the crankshaft to pour around, especially with the 
larger engines.  One reason is  that you'll get the proper spacing on 
the distance between your mains that way.  Another is that it saves me a 
great deal of time not having to "scrape in" the thrust surface of the 
c-shaft throw.  I can see positive points to doing it with the crank or 
a straight shaft.  I'm a bit lazy I guess.

Tommy Turner
Magnolia, KY





> Tommy,
> These are both very clever ideas! In both suggestions are you using a 
> dummy shaft instead of the crankshaft?
> Interesting that you have experienced no problems even with the engine 
> base cold. The Magnolia Bearing book is very specific about the 
> temperatures of the base, the dummy shaft, and the babbitt 
> temperature. I always worry about overheating and cracking an engine 
> base in such a localized area like the bearing bosses when attempting 
> to reach the temperatures Magnolia recommends. For certain I will 
> attempt much cooler per your recommendation. Do you brighten and use 
> the tinning flux on the cast iron bosses?
> Curt
>
> Judge Tommy Turner wrote:
>
>> Curt,
>>    I have poured some bearings but I'm sure there are others that 
>> have a great deal more experience and can give you better advice.  On 
>> smaller engines (6 HP or less), I've poured both the top and bottom 
>> at the same time.  I do this by laying the engine base on its side 
>> with the shaft perpindicular to the ground.  I've used the 
>> Babbittrite putty to build around the shaft to seal it off on the 
>> bottom side and use it to make a dam around the top.  I then heat the 
>> shaft base a bit (not real hot though) and pour it.  I usually make 
>> my shims out of asbestos gasket material for the pouring purpose.  
>> I've had good luck doing it this way.
>>
>>    On larger engines, I've cheated a bit.  I make (or purchase if its 
>> a standard size) brass bushings that fit the shaft perfectly.  I then 
>> mill out about an 1/8 inch on each side attach them to the shaft with 
>> 1/8 asbestos gasket material between the halves. I use a real fine 
>> brass wire to hold it all together.  I then place them in the frame 
>> of the engine and level the base so that the break line of the 
>> bushing half is parallel with the floor.   I use some jack stands I 
>> have with a small screw jack on top to position the crank (or shaft)  
>> properly.  I should mention that I also tin the brass halves with 
>> solder after I split them in order for the babbitt to adhere to the 
>> brass.  I then dam them up with Babbittrite and pour and. I heat the 
>> item a bit bit putting a little heat on the frame of the engine and 
>> the shaft.  However, if I'm pouring in a base that has some original 
>> paint and don't want to damage it, I've poured them cold and haven't 
>> noticed a significant issue by doing this.  I pull the top half off, 
>> scrape or file the babbitt flush on the sides of the bushing (between 
>> the bushing and the base), place in my asbestos shims and pour the 
>> top half.  This sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is.  
>> If you account for the time you use scraping and fitting the crank to 
>> the babbitt bearings, the way I've done it is actually faster I 
>> think.  One good thing about using the brass halves, they give you a 
>> great bearing surface and are all polished up and ready to use not 
>> long after pouring the babbitt.  I've been long winded here but 
>> thought I would share this with you.
>>
>> Tommy Turner
>> Magnolia, KY
>>
>>
>>> Guys,
>>> So far all the babbitt I have poured is lowers. The Alamo I am 
>>> working on will need the lowers poured and have melted them out. 
>>> Looking at the uppers leads me to think they should be redone as 
>>> well. I haven't melted them out yet.
>>> Have mostly completed the fixture to pour the lowers, but I have a 
>>> question for you experts on how to do the uppers. I am planning on 
>>> pouring the lowers around a dummy piece of 2" TG&P. Preheating the 
>>> dummy shaft and the engine base/bosses is fairly easy when doing 
>>> just lowers. But how does one heat the dummy shaft if doing the 
>>> upper at the same time? I see how the upper could be poured thru the 
>>> greaser hole. How will the lower cavity be poured at the same time 
>>> when metal tight dams/shims are in place between the uppers and 
>>> lowers? I thinking both would be poured at the same time??? Or are 
>>> the uppers poured first, then the caps removed and the lowers poured 
>>> later???
>>> I really need some good advice here!
>>> Curt Holland
>>> Gastonia, NC
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
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