[Gristmillers] Need top for pillow block Mill SN: 3287 - 16" Meadow Mills

[Faber McMullen]

Jeb:

THanks for the info.  I had not figured for the space needed for the  
babbit bearing.  I suppose in times past they just poured into a  
fairly raw casting.

Later,
Faber

On Mar 21, 2009, at 9:21 PM, jeb lloyd wrote:

> Faber;
>
> With regards to the bearing cap, there are a couple of things you  
> would want to keep in mind. First off, the casting is not the  
> bearing. The casting HOLDS the bearing, which is made of babbit.  
> Babbit is a soft, lead-alloy that melts easily but is great for low- 
> RPM applications. Great for mills and hit-and-miss engines...not so  
> good for car and truck engines. The babbit is what actually contacts  
> the shaft. The bearing cap usually has a couple of holes cast in it  
> to allow the babbit something to "grab ahold of" once it is poured.  
> Babbit can be poured 2 different ways: You can pour it so as to form  
> a solid block and machine the proper diameter for the shaft out of  
> it once the babbit has cooled, or  you can place the bearing cap on  
> the mill and bolt it down against the other half of the bearing  
> (with shaft in place) and let the shaft make the radius in the  
> babbit for you.
>
> The other thing you want to remember is that these bearing caps  
> nearly always had shims between them and the other half of the  
> bearing. As the babbit would wear out, the bearing would get loose.  
> To tighten it back up, you remove a shim from between the two halves  
> and tighten it back up. You would continue to do this until you ran  
> out of shims to remove. At that point, you would re-pour the  
> bearings. If you were to pour the babbit as a solid block and have a  
> machinist mill the shaft bore out of the solid block of babbit, you  
> would have to keep this fact in mind as the shims would effectively  
> force the shaft center to be farther away from the center of the  
> bearing cap. Just some things to keep in mind.
>
> Jeb
>
> From: faber at mssblue.net
> To: gristmillers at gristmillers.com
> Subject: Re: [Gristmillers] Need top for pillow block Mill SN: 3287  
> - 16"	Meadow	Mills
> Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:00:23 -0500
>
> Joe:
>
> Thanks for the info.  I may definitely need a piece made.  I think I  
> could fairly easily make the outside profile of one out of wood, but  
> I would have trouble getting the
> inside part where the shaft goes smooth and a true radius.  I could  
> maybe have it flat and explain to the machinist that it will couple  
> to a 1.3/4" shaft and they
> could put the radius in a casting.  If someone on the list has one  
> they could loan us to use as a pattern for a casting that would be  
> 50X easier.
>
> Concerning a rebuild, I would love to have come to your place, but I  
> wasn't sure folks who would come would have as much knowledge as  
> John Baily as
> everyone on the forum kept directing me to him.  I learned a lot in  
> the several hours we spent together.
> He mentioned he'd never been to your place, and we talked about the  
> idea of  once I've done this rebuild we could go up there and have a  
> working seminar
> and show folks what all we've learned.  I'm going to look for  
> another mill that we could redo and I could perhaps donate it to a  
> cultural museum that we're
> wanting to build here in Navasota.  I could bring it to Starr  
> Homeplace and we could do a weekend seminar.  Once I've done it, I  
> will understand what we
> need to have to make it happen in a 2-3 day period to give people  
> the satisfaction of seeing one happen completely.
>
> On this part, let's wait a day or so and see if anyone has an extra  
> part to sell me or for me to make a casting from.  Thanks again for  
> your offer to come
> to Starr Homeplace.  I look forward to meeting you in the future.
>
> Kindest Regards,
> Faber
>
>
>
> On Mar 21, 2009, at 2:54 PM, cen66133 at centurytel.net wrote:
>
> Faber,
> One other alternative is to borrow the piece and have one cast at a  
> small job foundry - not as expensive as you might think, though it  
> will probably require some machine shop work too.  We had a rocker  
> arm cast for an engine for $30.00.  The freight for shipping the  
> original to and from Oregon was more than the cost of having the  
> casting done.  I have friends who know of a foundry doing that kind  
> of work in Mobile.  We will eventually be able to do it here. You  
> can also carve an original of wood - or make one of pyroclastic clay  
> (fimo) though this shrinks.  Really doesn't take long to carve one  
> of wood using a side grinder , band saw, etc.
> We have a machinist who will probably be here working at our  
> blacksmiths hammer in - but ultimately - you are better off having  
> all the pieces parts and workmen in the same place.
>
> Later,
> Joe Rolfe
> Starr Homeplace
>
> P.S.
> Sorry I couldn't get up a crew to do your rebuild for you - it would  
> have been a lot of fun.  Everyone is stuck in their own ruts I guess  
> -- including me.  All are still, and will always be, welcome here.  www.StarrHomeplace.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Gristmillers mailing list
> Gristmillers at gristmillers.com
> http://lists.gristmillers.com/mailman/listinfo/gristmillers
>
>
> Internet Explorer 8 – Now Available. Faster, safer, easier. Download  
> FREE now! _______________________________________________
> Gristmillers mailing list
> Gristmillers at gristmillers.com
> http://lists.gristmillers.com/mailman/listinfo/gristmillers

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.gristmillers.com/pipermail/gristmillers/attachments/20090322/40d6ff0f/attachment.html