When was the last time you saw one of these?

Jason S. · Jul 27, 2014

They were fixing to tear down a building here and I found a couple of these laying in there. I know what it is and I figure a lot of the older guys know what it is. I thought it was a cool piece to have and a reminder of engines and equipment in the early years.

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bison · Jul 27, 2014

I don't know what it is but i have two emblems i took of my 78 jeep Cherokee before it went to the scrap yard.
These emblems sport exactly the same Indian head as in your pic

Ellis Kinney · Jul 27, 2014

Here is a guess, babbit was used to make bearings.
It may be a 5 or 10 lb supply to be sold and melted
down for bearings.

Dr. Walt · Jul 27, 2014

It's the emblem off a block of Babbitt. Babbitt
(named after Isaac Babbitt - 1799-1862) is a soft
silver-colored anti-friction alloy of Tin, Copper,
and Antimony that is used as bearing material in
machinery.

Back in 1983 I cast new Babbitt bearings in the
pillow blocks for the Sheave Wheels on top of the
Headframe at the Billie Mine in Death Valley,
California. - (See Photo)

Doc :>)

howdy1960 · Jul 27, 2014

Where I work we some times underplate pillowblocks for a local company called Babbit Bearings. From what I understand it's in preperation for the casting of babbit bearing material.

howdy1960 · Jul 27, 2014

Where I work we some times underplate pillowblocks for a local company. From what I understand it's in preperation for the casting of babbit bearing material.

Mike (WA) · Jul 27, 2014

Hope you did it in the winter! LOL

Re-babbitting mains and rod bearings in old cars is becoming a lost art- Its getting to be a problem for restorers because you can ship rods without too much trouble, but what do you do for the mains? Ship the block halfway across the country? $$$

Bob · Jul 27, 2014

Yep. Even now, it"s not too tough to find some for sale.

McMaster is one source.
Babbit

ShadetreeRet · Jul 27, 2014

When I was a kid I watched my uncle pour babbitt bearings, but have never seen any, or pictures of the stuff until now.

NCWayne · Jul 27, 2014

Not sure what they use now days, but the USS America, and the USS William V Pratt, the two ships I served on, both had babbited bearings on the main shafting. I got to watch the ship yard guys take the first line shaft bearing, behind our main thrust block, and scrap a freshly babbited bearing for it. What was strange about the whole thing was that the shaft was around 24 inches in diameter, but had about a .010 bow in it. As a result they had to scrape the bearing a little out of round to accommodate the misalignment to keep the shaft from being too tight and overheating. It took them several days of bluing it, rolling it in and out, and scraping in between to get it right, but eventually it was back together and rolling great.

There are still a few places out there with the tools and knowledge to rebabbit bearings, but for the most part is seems to be a dying art.

Jason S. · Jul 28, 2014

(quoted from post at 19:21:26 07/27/14) It's the emblem off a block of Babbitt. Babbitt
(named after Isaac Babbitt - 1799-1862) is a soft
silver-colored anti-friction alloy of Tin, Copper,
and Antimony that is used as bearing material in
machinery.

Back in 1983 I cast new Babbitt bearings in the
pillow blocks for the Sheave Wheels on top of the
Headframe at the Billie Mine in Death Valley,
California. - (See Photo)

Doc :&gt

I got 3 of these and yes they are Babbitt. You said they were the emblems off of blocks. I don't know about that but these are made of Babbitt and can be melted down. I got these out of an old wagon company they were tearing down.

greygoat · Jul 28, 2014

"Baum Iron Co"., (Baum Hydraulics) and "Graingers"
have Babbit. Also, any good bearing supply house
should be able to get bearing babbit by the
pound.

When was the last time you saw one of these?

Jason S.

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bison

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Ellis Kinney

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Dr. Walt

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howdy1960

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howdy1960

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Mike (WA)

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Bob

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ShadetreeRet

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NCWayne

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Jason S.

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greygoat

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