Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Hi all, Im curious if anyone has used an alternative for babbitt in their windmills and been successful. I have an open gear woodmansee thats been sitting in my shed for a bit needing some babbitt before putting it back togather. However im not sure i want to attempt the babbitt. Is there a liquid plastic composite or epoxy of some sort that i can pour without heat, that would harden like a bearing, not damage anything, and allow some occassional use of the mill?

You might contact Dan Benjamin he might make you some brass bushings.

Babbitt is not hard to pour, heck even I can do it. If you mess up ... you melt it back out and pour it in again. you don't need a bunch of heat. My first pours I melted in a tin can on a Coleman camp stove. A very small cast iron fry pan would work great.

Where are you located?

Just did my 8' OG Woodmanse. I have pictures on my phone. I dont know how to put them on here.Text me at 580-660-5654

If you have email you can send them to your email through a text message and then save them to your computer. Just like you would send a text to someone except you use your email address. Do it all the time.

Thanks all, im out of altoona iowa. Mas ill send you a text. Ill then post them here for others to see.

Thanks for fhe pics MAS! Is that a jig and is that a direct stroke?

What kind of babbitt did you use and where do you recommend getting it from?

Ive read through some aermotor pouring instructions and it sounded like a lot of work. Maybe the open gears are way simpler.

When I buy babbitt, I usually go to Roto Metals and just buy one of the general purpose babbitts (I forget the number). When you are at their site, also get some putty. I forget what it is listed as on their website ... around here its commonly called dog "stuff".

Open shell like in MAS photos are way simpler than a 602. You can also see in MAS pic where he has placed the Doggie-doo so stop the babbitt from entering the center area. Take a peak at some youtube videos of pouring babbitt. Many times they are of opened sleeve bearings. I am not a pro at it, but I find it rather enjoying.

MAS that is a wonderful jig. Pretty elaborate compared to what I normally use ... but did provide me with a couple of AH-Ha moments, thanks for the ideas.