[2] In 1824, he made the first Britannia metal manufactured in the United States, from which he sold table wares as Babbitt, Crossman & Company.

There he engaged as superintendent for the South Boston Iron Company, better known as Alger's foundries, where he produced the first brass cannon in the United States.

Also while there, in 1839, he invented the widely used metal now known as Babbitt metal, an alloy of four parts copper, eight of antimony, and twenty-four of Banca tin, used for reducing the friction of axles in heavy machinery.

[2] For this invention he received in 1841 a gold medal from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, and afterward the United States Congress granted him $20,000.

For some time, he devoted his attention to the production of the metal, and he was also engaged in the manufacture of soap.