A lot of stuff is dying out as old timers go... I am not sure how to search the HAMB for this but does anyone know how to do: *Metal casting (for pistons, intakes, etc.) *Babbiting *Line boring at home (and making the tools to do this) *vehicle wood structure creation (when the old wood is gone and it is not a common car like a model T or A) *Wood top bow creation etc.??? Any guidance, links, threads, and help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. ~Joe
To get started, order a catalog from Lindsay Publications: 815-935-5353 or www.lindsaybooks.com. Once you have their catalog you will be interested inat least three books on Babbiting..There are several on casting, pattern making, building a furnace (capable of melting aluminum), etc.
There is a book out by...Vic Zannis, I think?...on rebabbiting a model T at home. It includes line boring, using a Craftsman light duty drill press as the basis for an align bore rig! The book is full of ingenious ways to a home rebuild and/or flaming death in a river of molten metal.
Metal casting itself is alive and well; there are foundries throughout the US. It is mostly the art of building casting patterns without computers that is extremely rare. With or without computers, pattern making requires a lot of woodworking skills. General woodworking experience would be a lot of use to you. A good intro to pattern making and metal casting: http://www.virtualindian.org/3techcasting.htm
the bearings in a ton of old motors were made of lead i believe rods needed to be rebabbitted. didnt have pop out bearings like modern motors. the were also shimmed so when the tolerence got a little loose ya took some shims out to tighten things back up rebabbitted when things were out of spec.
Contact Schwamms in Strasburg, Pa. Very helpful, possibly the best old school machine shop on the east coast. Jon
Mains have babbit bearings also. They aren't just lead, it's alloyed with some other metals to make it harder. I've heard it called white metal, but this seems to be a generic term for any number of unidentified alloys. When the babbit wears down so far that there are no more shims to remove and you can't tighten things up, it's time for a rebabbiting job. The old babbit is removed, and new is poured in (hot). The new babbit must be line bored to open it up to the tolerences of the crank and to insure that everything is all lined up on the mains. Luke
i made a couple of furnaces about 10 years ago via the Gingerly books... I coincidentally broke them out a couple of months ago just for ****s and giggles.
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