my 1 1/2 hp McCormick Deering engine.
I started out with a piece of pipe, with a larger inside diameter
than the outside of the bearing shells would be, and a little longer.
I then used a hole saw to bore a hole in some 1/4" plate steel the same
size as the thrust lip on the original bearing insert.
I then welded the pipe to the plate's top surface.
You can see what I'm talking about by looking at photo 5.
Next I found a piece of 1 1/2" round stock (the size of the main crank journal,
drilled and tapped a 3/8" bolt hole to be able to bolt it down to a steel plate
Then I turned down to under-size and tapered the round stock in the lathe so I'd have
plenty of babbitt in the casting to be able bore it close to size,
and have the taper to aid in removing the casting from the round stock.
Note the hose clamps. This is because I ended up sawing the mold in half
length-wise, after a failed attempt to remove a poured bearing from the one
piece mold. For the second try, I lightly siliconed the two mold pieces at
the sawed joint, and then clamped the two halves together tightly.
After, I C-clamped the mold down to the plate that had the round stock
bolted to it. You could drill and bolt the two plates together if you're
more talented than me. I tried, but never could get all the holes to work
out so the mold stayed centered around the round stock!
So..... I resorted to C-Clamps. This worked okay.
Also, I siliconed the mold down to the base plate, so molten babbitt wouldn't
ooze out of the bottom of the mold.
Continue with the Saga or Back to the Beginning
