Babbit welding, prosess and material supply

hi

Greetings Alfred, While I can't tell you where to get the babbit wire I can give some advice on the actual repair process. Years ago, over 30, I learned how to repair babbit bearings. Usually the bearing shells were removed from the machine, the original babbit melted out with a torch, and then new babbit was poured in. If a repair had to be done with the bearing in place babbit rod was used, along with flux and a torch, to fill in the worn area. Then the repair was scraped and lapped to fit. The lapping compound I used was and is still made and is called "Timesaver". The stuff is made by Microfinish Corp. The Timesaver lapping compound differs from other lapping compounds in that it cuts the softer metal, does not embed, and breaks down fairly fast so that it stops cutting. When pouring babbit into bearing shells a shaft with a diameter slightly smaller than the shaft that the bearing will be supporting was used to mold the I.D. of the bearing. The shaft would first be covered with the carbon from a smoky flame. The flame usually used was acetylene burning in air. The carbon keeps the babbit from sticking to the shaft. Depending on different conditions the babbit was either bored to size and/or lapped to size. When melting the babbit for the pour it was stirred constantly to keep the heavier metals in the babbit alloy from settling to the bottom of the crucible. The babbit was at the proper temperature for pouring when a pine stick pushed into the melted babbit charred but didn't burst into flame. I know, it all sounds pretty crude but the same methods are being used today all over the world to repair babbit bearings in large rotating devices, like the generators in hydro plants. It is no surprise you are having trouble with porosity. Using TIG to repair babbit will greatly overheat the babbit causing some of it to vaporise. Use a torch instead. Cheers, Eric

It may just be incorrect usage of the TIG torch, too high a current, as I've welded pewter (Britannia metal) which is similar to Babbit being