Help With Old Canedy Otto

[BT]

It shouldn't be hard to fabricate some bearings boxes for babbit bearings for this. Most of these type of blowers had one piece boxes on them. You could use a short piece of black iron pipe arc welded to a piece of barstock for the box. Drill holes in the barstock to correspond to the mounting holes on the case. Drill a hole in the pipe for the pour hole which will then become the oil port also. Position the shaft in the center of the pipe ends and dam up the ends. Then just pour the babbit through the oil hole that you drilled in the pipe. Smoke the shaft well before pouring with acetylene or with a candle.
After the pour, remove the shaft and drill out the babbit in the oil port.

[simmonds]

BT - GREAT idea!!! Hmmmmm, now I have some thinking to do.

[simmonds]

I have no experience with babbit bearing and have never done them myself. What is the exact process of pouring babbit bearings? Also, what advantages or disadvantages would this have over converting to pillow block style bearings. Chris

[BT]

simmonds
google "babbitt pouring instructions" and you will get a bunch of hits on tips and examples of babbitt bearing restoration.

Crescent 32" Band Saw Restoration is one example, although this example is a two piece box. I think the Little Giant site has some good info also.

The advantages of babbit in the case of your blower would be that the tapered shafts would not need to be altered. Just polish them up a bit and they would be ready to go. I have repoured several small blower bearings like yours and it is really not that much of a job.

[HWooldridge]

Hard maple works fine for bearings that have low loading and as mentioned, will function for a long while if oiled. That is what Little Giant clutch blocks are made from and they will last for many years if kept lubed. You can also use hard wood for the bearing block and pour or press a babbitt center piece to have contact with the shaft. The shaft is tapered to match the now missing bearings so you can adjust the blocks inward to get a running clearance but as mentioned, they need to be polished because the rust will act as an abrasive and cause problems in short order.