"Babbit Metal" For Bullet Casting???

[Bill T]

I've come into about 30 lbs. of this stuff in pure ingot form. Does anyone know the alloy makeup of this material? I was wondering what I could cut it with for a good castable alloy? I have pure Linotype, as well as pure lead, and 5% Antimony / Lead alloy on hand to cut it with. Thanks in advance.  Bill T.

[Lloyd Smale]

just knowing its babit is not enough. Babbit can be either lead based or tin based. It varies alot in composition. I ran into to a pile of it at the local paper mill they used it for bearings. It had an osha printout that said it was 92 percent tin 6 percent atimony and 2 pecent copper. Before the epa started clamping down on lead it was mostly lead based stuff they used in bearings. Without a printout its tough to tell as the hardness of both was very simular and there were many mixes of tin and lead that were used for various applications.

[Flash]

I've got about 200 lbs of this stuff sitting in the garage but as Lloyd said, you should know the composition. Mine is bearing metal and it works well for gas checked bullets but not plain base due to it's hardness and melting point. The casting characteristics are great in my opinion.

[Lead pot]

Babbitt is a mix of about 80-90 parts tin 3-5 parts antimony 3+- copper and very low on lead mabe 1/2 part lead. It comes in various grades like Lloyd said. I used #1 marine or 11 D. If you have a Pig of it #55 lb and it's stamped #1  or 11-d it's about 90% tin.I  used to use it for pouring babbitt seats in ammonia valves,softened up with a little lead. But it had many other uses. Even the old carburetors were made from it.
 I would not throw it away, use 1lb with about 30 to 40 lbs lead good BPCR alloy.
Now some Babbitt with a higher numbers 12 -15, now that stuff gets into the lead base Babbitt with a high count of antimony like 10%+- and less then 6% tin and the rest is lead, you want to watch how you melt that stuff down. It has a high count of arsenic.
The lead based stuff should melt about a little higher temp as lead because of the antimony content.
The tin based stuff will melt at arround 450 degs because of the high tin content.

I hope this helps you a bitt. Dont hold me to those numbers I been a retired Plumber now for 5 years and I think all the lead I have inhaled over the last 40 years is taking it's tole :roll:

Kurt

[Duffy]

Just to add to the rest of the posts I have some that had aluminum in it also. BAD NEWS. When it melts the tin and lead melts away and it has the consistancy of tapioca pudding. I would just check some by itself first before blending it with a good mix. BTW I did get some bullets cast out of this stuff and they weigh about half of what they should. I was able to pour the tin off the bottom and save it but what a pain!

[Graybeard]

Babbit is a generic name for many different combinations of metals. Unless you know which you have it's hard to answer the question of use it or not. I got into some many years ago dad was using on a project after he'd ended the project. He had told me it was mostly lead, forget now all the other things he knew to be in it. Tin I think, definitely zinc which many say is horrible in bullet alloy. I used it with complete satisfaction. It made good bullets and was free.

[Tom W.]

I've used it for years, mostly #4 nickel babbitt, blended with either wheel weights or pure lead. I have used it "as is", but as stated elsewhere, it's mighty light.  :shock:


 It makes some mighty hard bullets. :grin:



I get mine from the local dealer that supplies the sawmill where I work. I'll just ask for an ingot of lead, which is 60 pounds, and an ingot of babbitt, which is about 8 pounds, and blend them together.

BTW, the babbitt that is supplied to sawmills and the like is lead free, as required by OSHA.

[LAH]

I've used No. 4 babbit. Test 9 BHN.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive actually brought my tester with me when looking at babit to buy and you cant allways trust how its marked unless you know for sure that it came right from the foundry. Companys use it then pour left overs into an ingot mold for use later and you never really know what your getting. I got stung once buying it for tin and found what i really had was lead based babit that was close to pure lead in hardness. With very little tin. If i cant get a ossha printout on what it contains ill only pay lead prices for it. Its tough to find it in a salvage yard that is consitant. So if your looking to exactly repeat an alloy that worked for you your better off getting your tin elsewhere.

[LAH]

Agree with Lloyd on this one.

[Lead pot]

I made a search when I just read aluninum in babbitt I cant see that possible. I would think no matter how much you flux the mix it would surface because of it's weight and the higher temp it meeds to melt. So I made a search and this is what I found. I'm sure that there are more sites with more mixes.
According to this page my numbers were not to far off from the alloy I used to use.
http://www.msnusers.com/BPCR/msgattachments/354
Kurt

[Duffy]

Well if it's not aluminum I don't know what it could be. To get it to pour the temp has to be around 900+ and it still doesn't do that well. It make's the melt very thick and grainy looking and is very silver and light. If you skim it off and pour it into a flat pan it act's like cast aluminum. Has a very nice ring to it when you drop it on the floor. I melted it out of some large bearing cap's. (12"dia X 12"wide) I do belive theres quite a bit of tin in it and it will flow out of the bottom of the pot but as soon as this thick stuff gets down there the shows over. Fluxing seems to just aggrevate it and it's better to just let the tin/lead flow out of it.
I just re-read your post and think I know where the differences are. Everyone is talking about "Babbit" bearing material and the stuff I got was just a poured bearing. So what I'm saying is that ALL BABBIT should be close to the same while ALL POURED BEARING material isnt the same as Babbit.
Did that make any sense at all? :roll:
 
Couldn't get the link to work either.