jeff, according to dev....babbit bearings when poured right are darn-near as accurate as precision bearings that cost a small fortune.....knowing your affection for old machines with cool lines i`ve gotta wonder if you`d be happy with the "eagle" knowing you let this`n go?......tod
From what I understand babbitt is still used in some ultra precision machines. They are poured and hand scraped to a near perfect fit. So yes, they are super good bearings. Ball and roller are cheaper to install on a assembly line.
and we all know money wins over quality.
And I have decided against the Ollie unless I can can get it cheap for a couple of reasons. I think the idea of a ready to use machine just got the better for me for a moment.
Just lost my head.
........If you screw it up, you just melt out the bearings and do it again!
Just think how nice that would be to use, updated it a bit, but man it would be sweet.
Never done it but have read about it and there a several guys on OWWM that have and are always willing to give advice. The guy that has this machine has offered to send me his babbitt scrapers with it on. On loan, not a gift.
He also has a 3 blade round safety head for it. This one has the original 2 blade square head. If you get a finger caught in that it's gone! The round head will just take the tip off your fingers. But putting in the round head means I would have to switch over to pillow block bearings most likely. I need to get it here and see it to know what I want to do. I hate to change it but if it's not safe and/or I am scared of it...... then it is an easy choice.
Jeff,
.... looks like the babbit box is broken out. ....
Your right Wes, it is broken and the owner, who is a another Arn Head says that is all thats wrong with it. I trust he knows what he is talking about. No idea why it's broken either, no one has any idea as to why that would break like that. I wonder if water got in there and it froze? Sure looks like a freeze crack to me.
We have talked about how to repair it. Thinking brazing might be the best idea. But after seeing Stu's welding I am thinking I might want to ship it Japan.
It pains me to see fine old iron left out in the weather.
With your restoring skills I'm sure it will look like new but it's going to tale a lot of work!
The current owner got it as part of a package deal. He has a similar jointer and didn't want this one. Obviously it has been outside in the weather. But Lenny has is tarped and protected so no further damage occurs. The amazing thing is it is complete. Well it's missing one knob and that's it. Imagine trying to find parts for this puppy!
But yes, I hate seeing like that out in the weather trying to return to ground!
This is an 8" jointer but it is a dead ringer for this one. And no, I will not paint mine red, but it won't be gray either.
I have a couple of ideas for colors that will look like they could be original but have a little snap to them. What I want is Kirk's motor sitting behind the jointer! Wouldn't that be perfect on there!