Hey
@YYCHobbyMachinist, reading over your post with the gib measurements I have a few concerns with the fact that your gib is tapered in more than one way.
The Gib should remain constant in height along its length. It should not be high enough to be taking the weight of the table but needs to be consistent to ensure proper fit to the dovetails.
This is depicted in the top sketch of the drawing
:
View attachment 9845
The second sketch shows what you would see if you planed off the table surface down to the gib. The intention of the gib is to allow you to tighten it in on the wedge to obtain an equal "x" dimension (basically) you can see that the taper in the top is equal and opposite the gib so that the gib establishes a proper parallel running surface between the table and the base. Since the gib is fixed to the table and moves with it, it will always be parallel
The bottom pic shows that the gib should be equal in the other plane so that the height is constant. This is to allow the table to sit properly on the base so that those swirly oil passages can create a nice slippery surface. If the gib was tapered in this direction it would tend to then be the piece that rode on the ways and would have load on it from the weight of the table and what you were machining
Your gib seems to taper in 2 directions such that height is diminishing along the length of the gib. - wear?
On the bottom of your table I would think one dovetail is straight and the other tapers. The base sides should both run parallel to each other. (Maybe opposite but I can't see that far from here LOL)
For a crude reference but may give you an indication on the gib, if you measure the distance across the dovetails on the base and then measure the distance of them on the top, you can do some math and find out what the taper should be. Then measure up the gib and see if the taper angle is correct. If the angle of the gib is too steep the small end will not be in contact with the base properly to establish that parallel sliding fit.
View attachment 9846
You can see the dotted line in the drawing that is the reference for the base. There will be a space to allow for the fitting of the gib. Don't forget to account for that when you do the math for the angle.
The gib for my compound was off by over 0.020" and I think it might not have been original to the lathe. The new one is excellent. I think the rule of thumb for gib tapers is 1/4" per foot or about 1.2 degrees - but it still needs to fit your machine, so that would only be ball park