While lead is toxic to people and as the metal is avoided in food-based applications or when equipment comes in human contact, it is still in wide use today. This metal has excellent corrosion resistance and ductility, as it may be used for applications such as lining storage tanks containing acidic substances, in the manufacturing…
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Types of Pure Lead and Lead Alloys for Counter Weights and Other Applications
Normally when the subject of lead comes up, people often associate it with the harmful effects of lead pipes and lead paint that causes serious health risks. While there has been a significant reduction of lead metals used in portable water, residential homes, and other health-based applications, this metal is still commonly used. Lead and…

Lead Wool Applications: Used in Medical O2 Sensors For Ventilators and Respirators
Lead wool is well known in the industrial sector. This material is often used to seal around flanges, connections, and pipes. It can also be found in apertures within walls and ceilings when there may be an abundance of radiation from equipment as the lead wool protects certain areas. Another industry where lead wool is…

Selecting the Appropriate Babbitt Alloy
Babbitt metals are either lead or tin based, and the metal makes excellent bearings that are easy to pour as a DIY project. However, before you pour your bearings, you must select the correct babbitt metal in order to ensure your engine or piece of machinery operates correctly and efficiently. If you know the composition…

How to Pour Babbitt Bearings
Do you have old babbitt bearings that need to be replaced? Babbitt is a special type of metal that was designed for use as bearings due to its heat resistance and durability. The metal is normally comprised of varying percentages of copper, antimony, lead, arsenic and tin. The exact percentages vary, according to the grade….

Antimony: Possessing Durability and Versatility When Alloyed with Other Metals
Semiconductors, machine bearings, and utensils are all made from varying amounts of metal alloys. Yet these items also possess one common factor: antimony. Antimony is a semi-metal element that comes in both a powdered form as well as a hard and brittle metal. Possessing a silvery, blush white appearance, this element is highly desired when…

Smooth operation
Choosing the right Babbitt alloy helps to increase a bearing’s useful life Reliable machine operation depends on a properly working bearing assembly. If there is a failure within the bearing, such as a decrease in lubrication, the resulting heat from friction can not only decrease the life of the bearing but also cause equipment to…

Keep on rolling
Babbitt metals ensure machinery runs smoothly Bearings play an integral role in machine efficiency by reducing friction between moving parts. The earliest recorded examples of bearing usage date back to the Romans, and in the year 1500, Leonardo da Vinci sketched a design for a helicopter that incorporated ball bearings. Today, common types of bearings…