putting together a 292 for a fellow who got bearings.020 from carpenter vandervell which must have sat for 50 years.the coating on these is almost gone on some.i dont know if its there just to cover till use or its more serious.cant put on a picture.

ive had someone take a look and i guess their junk.never saw that before.looks like the babbit is part gone.

Try rubbing it with a little scotch brite

Vandervell was a good brand of bearing in its day and were made in England.  As Cliff mentions, lightly dress the bearings with some oiled Scotch Brite and see what the bearings actually look like.  An emphasis here on the word ‘lightly’.  Depending upon how the bearings have been stored, the overlay can oxidize and make the bearing surface simply look bad.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

these bearings are different than the babbit bearings we are used to.the surface coating is hard and shiny.most of it has discinagrated.steel wool wont leave a scratch on this whatever it is.its real thin cant be much more than .001 thick.i dont know whats under it.anyway i ordered another set.wish i could post a picture but dont have the means.

If you’ll send a picture to my email, I’ll post it.  I’m curious now as to what that bearing actually looks like.  My email address is located at   www.eatonbalancing.com   under ‘Contact Us’.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

sent ted at least i hope i did.

 
A bit blurry on the picture.  You might see if your camera has a Macro setting for close up pictures.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

the shiny part is the coating.thats gone some still have most of it.whatever it is its hard metal coating.the picture is is good as it gets

I would think with a lite clean up they will be fine (scotch brite),