Cast Iron and Bronze??

[TractionBoySam]

Hello Everyone, I wonder if you good folk could help? I am making (nearly finished, at last!!) a 2" Burrell Gold medal Tractor, and have made the eccentric cams from Cast Iron running on Bronze sheeves, and after a couple of steamings noticed a bit of slack on the eccentrics developing!! I have no idea which material is wearing as there is no black oil appearing or for that matter gold paint! Does anyone have any experience of these materials working together? Cheers Chris H

 

[rake60]

Welcome to HMEM Chris.

I've never run cast iron on bronze so I can't offer a experienced reply.

I can say that most cast alloys are much more wear resistant than
most bronze alloys.
Even polished cast parts have an abrasive quality to them.

I don't know what the grade of either materials you mention may be.
If it grey cast iron on SAE 660 bronze, the bronze is going to lose.
Malable iron on C655 Silicon Bronze is a more even match.
That situation would be even tougher to project a winner in the
wear situation.

Rick