What is this?

[RBnSC]

Found these bars in a container full of old tools and parts. I think I know what it is but no idea what to do with them.
Ron

 

[Greg1959]

Lead? If so, makes get bullets.

 

[inkspot]

you dont day if they are lead or if they are steel iron orr what metal you think they are and whats written on them

 

[Mark-Ia]

Bars to melt and pour Babbit Bearings.

 

[FLOLDFORD]

It's babbit. Used to pour babbit bearings. Not as soft as lead. It's getting hard to find someone who still knows how to do it

 

[ObsoElitist]

Its not lead, but "babbit" alloy. It is used to pour new bearing in old engines from about the mid 20s and earlier. Good to have, if you know what to do with it.

 

[Richard G.]

I pour bearings for Model T engines and line bore them to fit. I have also poured bearings for syrup mills and did a job in Sumter SC for a huge conveyor. The shaft was about 5 inches on that job.
Hold onto it I would be interested in it.
Richard in NW SC

 

[37chief]

Richard. Can Babbitt be used more than one time? Always wondered about that. Stan

 

[moresmoke]

Babbitt, a couple pieces of 1/8 plywood for spacers, a can of playdoh to dam the gaps, and your set to pour some bearings.


Yes, old bearings can be melted and repoured.

 

[jim castleman]

Chevrolet 6 cyl. engines had babbit bearings untill about 1950 when the power glides came out.

 

[jeffcat]

Richard will most likely tell you the same. I have been told that babbit is temperature sensitive. You need to have it just hot enough to melt but if it gets too hot it will break down. Lead is lead. Alloys are a whole nother story.

 

[Richard G.]

I never throw any babbitt away. It can be used again for certain projects. On a Model T, I only use new babbitt, but the stuff I melt out can be used on engines or projects with less speed and stress. Good babbitt has no lead in it.
I poured a big syrup mill one time with aluminum.
Caterpillar engines used aluminum bearings in the 50's. I rebuilt a D2 that had aluminum inserts in the rods.
Richard

 

[John B.]

They use to use lead bars like that to fill holes in car bodies instead of body puddy years ago I was told. That's the first thing that came to my mind.

 

[Tom-NoCenTX]

You are actually incorrect. The 1951 power glide had a 235 cu in engine rather than the 216 cu in that the stick shift had, but it was a babbit rod system. So were the 1952 models. I had both. In 1953 the power glide engine got regular inserts and high pressure oiling system. Then in 1954 BOTH the stick shift models and the auto trans models all had the 235 cu in with inserts and high pressure oiling system. Tom

 

[RBoots]

If that's what Babbitt looks like, I feel bad I threw out a bar like that when cleaning out some junk in his barn a couple years ago. If he was alive, he would have told me what it was. I thought it was tin, but thought it was odd that it was in a neat little bar like that. Really too bad, I would like to just try to pour a JD rod bearing.

Ross

 

[Richard G.]

Ross, babbitt is mostly tin with a little copper and antimony. Different mixtures for different purposes.
Richard

 

[RBoots]

So you would have to be completly sure you have the right kind to do an engine bearing? How would you tell, is there a denotation on those bars that are shown?

Ross

 

[DeltaRed]

That is where the term "lead sled" came from.Friend of mines grandfather was one of the earliest body men. He told stories of pouring/shapeing lead onto car bodys.

 

[Richard G.]

With some research on the computer, you could probably find the content of the bars. It is hard for me to see the markings in the photo. I usually buy from a company that lists the content of the babbitt.
Richard

 

[Mike M]

Someone showed me a trick once to identify if you have lead or babbit. You take a knife point and drag it along the surface and one will peel out in curls. Now if I could ONLY REMEMBER which one did that ?

 

[Pete in MD]

Here's some good info on Babbitt.
Babbitt

 

[Royse]

"They use to use lead bars like that to fill holes in car bodies"

I used lead to seal car body seams when attaching new panels.
The bars didn't look like that though, they were fairly thin sticks
so that they would melt easily and could be pushed in with a
wooden "spoon".

My grandfather (RIP) used the left overs and used wheel weights
to pour us sinkers so we could go fishing in the local river.
He melted them all down in a metal coffee can and poured it
into home made molds with hand twisted wires to attach the line.
Ah, the good ole days! LOL