Quote:
Originally Posted by lrf
Back in the days, say pre-1990s, there were many people and businesses that knew the correct way to babbitt engines. It's a lost art with very few who have the knowledge to babbitt correctly. So to keep an engine running you have to revert to insert bearings. I'm still lucky enough to be running babbitt but who knows what the future will bring.
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I believe the mindset of it being a "lost art" is really more of a myth than anything. While granted, some 75 years ago there was a small automotive machine shop in every town that had the capability of casting bearings, there is still quite a few rebuilders doing quality Babbitt bearing work. Patrick's name was mentioned above and he is young and doing well. My son who is in his 20s has learned the craft, and there are many other 'youngsters' that are also casting (Herm Kohnke's son John, Matt Temple and his son, et/al) , so there really is not a shortage of qualified bearing pourers, -or even young bearing pourers.
One other comment, IMO the technology and the passing of information is much more prevalent in this age for two reasons. First, this generation is much more willing to pass on information (-and pass on correct information) and the internet has provided a platform for sharing info.