where can i find linotype?
- Thread starter CALIFORNIA
- Start date
Babbit can be even harder than linotype. It also can be very little harder than lead, for low pressure, low speed bearings. Depends on what use the babit is for.
It would be excellent for casting bullets, depending on what it was meant for.
blaser.306
CGN Regular
- Location
- Saskatoon , Sask
I buy high pressure Babbit and use it for nothing more than "sweetening" my leads tin content .
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
Bought 5 lbs of babbit from CGnner "gunrunner8" and he said it was 90% tin and the rest was antimony with traces of copper. At 10 bucks per pound it wasn't cheap but it seemed like a good idea at the time as it was almost pure tin and good for spicing up straight WW or pure lead.
Added 1/4 lb to 20 lbs WW when casting 9mm, just to try and improve the flow characteristics of the melt. Don't really know if the babbit/tin did any good as I had good experience with straight WW filling out my Tumble Lube molds even before adding tin.
Also added babbit (equivalent to approx 1%) to 50/50 pure lead/WW for .45acp and 38spl. It did not seem to flow better with the babbit. YMMV.
Bottom line is, the benefit of adding babbit/tin was not obvious to me. I was expecting a big difference like night and day, but wasn't so. Next time, I will only add babbit if the melt clearly does not flow properly.
easyrider604
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Greater Vancouver, BC
Without a mass spectrometer, I'd say get a lead hardness tester to measure your ingots' hardness. Then adjust your alloy accordingly.
I have some five pound cakes of babbit metal from Harris Metal, that dates back to WW2. About 20 years ago I contacted Haris metal, to find out the contents of the metal. Here is their reply. You will note this is almost exactly like linotype, and is quite heavy duty.
- Location
- West coast of Vancouver Island
Guys, put the rulers away and zip up, lets stick to answering the op's original question.
blaser.306
CGN Regular
- Location
- Saskatoon , Sask
So, not involved in this ******** match in any way ! Have we helped the original poster find linotype ? Maybe we should just let it go and stop the battle between the"north and the south " Just a thought!
Have you ordered from them before? I'm just wondering what shipping might be like if it wasn't free
. Their prices are definitely a bit lower than what I've been paying up here for lead and tin. Chris.
Well, it's an American site... but all the guys on the Castboolits forum recommend them. they say they're the best metal supply place to deal with. Worst that they could do is charge you flat-rate shipping... So volume buys might be worth it.
I have some five pound cakes of babbit metal from Harris Metal, that dates back to WW2. About 20 years ago I contacted Haris metal, to find out the contents of the metal. Here is their reply. You will note this is almost exactly like linotype, and is quite heavy duty.
Thank you very much H4831! Just so happens there were about 20 of those round ingots of Harris Metal in the scrap bin a few weeks ago. Should have bought em. I'll buy those I see in future.
This is where I last bought Linotype: http://www.alchemycastings.com/index.htm
A Canadian firm, they sell it for $4.00-$7.00/lb shipped depending on quantity (25 lbs is the minimum order and most expensive per pound). Five years ago it cost 1/4 of that.
A Canadian firm, they sell it for $4.00-$7.00/lb shipped depending on quantity (25 lbs is the minimum order and most expensive per pound). Five years ago it cost 1/4 of that.
Well lucky me. Went back to the scrap yard today and there in the same bucket were 24 Harris Metal ingots, the round ones with Mr. Harris in profile. Each one weighs about 4 lbs and I bought all 24 for $.60 a lb. "Heavy Duty Babbit Metal" it says on them IRRC.
And I don't even cast bullets - yet!
And I don't even cast bullets - yet!
Well lucky me. Went back to the scrap yard today and there in the same bucket were 24 Harris Metal ingots, the round ones with Mr. Harris in profile. Each one weighs about 4 lbs and I bought all 24 for $.60 a lb. "Heavy Duty Babbit Metal" it says on them IRRC.
And I don't even cast bullets - yet!
Wow!
Did you get a bargain, or what.
Several years ago there were some of those on a table at an antique show and they were priced at $25 an ingot.
They're not going to sell many at that price I don't think!
Harris was smart casting them in that shape and with his face on them. They look so unique and useful people used them as doorstops, paperweights or whatever. Somehow you hate to throw away something that looks like that.
Lots of other babbit around, but it's nice to get consistent quality and a consistent alloy.
I believe one of the components, maybe the antimony, is lost through oxidization if the metal is kept molten too long. Have to check the books on that.
These are pretty banged around on the fine details so not really good enough for collector status most of them. A few were painted with red lead so I guess they were used for weights in some shop. Comes off easily in the blast cabinet though, along with all the oxides and dirt, which should mean less crud to skim off the pot.
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Lots of other babbit out there of course, drop by your local scrapyard folks and check the lead bin. Usually comes in bars of different sizes. Often you can still read the markings so you know what you're getting.
Machinery's Handbook probably has the range of alloys listed(?) So even if you can't tell exactly what alloy you've got, you can probably make an educated guess if see something like a big shaft bearing in the scrap bin.
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Lots of other babbit out there of course, drop by your local scrapyard folks and check the lead bin. Usually comes in bars of different sizes. Often you can still read the markings so you know what you're getting.
Machinery's Handbook probably has the range of alloys listed(?) So even if you can't tell exactly what alloy you've got, you can probably make an educated guess if see something like a big shaft bearing in the scrap bin.
