Back in post #227 of this thread, Craig asked the group for help installing the table gib.
@Dabbler and I went over to Craig’s and managed to install the gib by shimming it up off the saddle so that the machine at least became usable. Then there was the problem with tramming in the vise because the table has ”slop” in Y (about 2-3 thou) on the gib adjusting screw side. It was overcome by permanently having the RH gib lock push against the gib to take up the slop.
While the table and saddle were at my shop, we had a look at it. The table dove tails were measured over pins (well, a 9/16” and a 5/8” end mill shank actually since I don’t have any gage pins larger than 0.500”). The actual measurement does not matter, we just wanted to see if the DTs are parallel - they were (deviation anywhere along the table was about 2-3 tenths). I call that good.
Next we used a Grade A straight edge to check the table’s bearing surfaces on the saddle. They were not very good. Lots of light shone through underneath. We draw filed the surfaces until the straight edge was showing equal light distribution. Sliding the saddle on the table produced enough “shiny” high spots (clearly visible in the bright sunlight), which were scraped off. We repeated that process until we got the table to slide well on the saddle. We did the same with the gib / table / saddle combo.
(Richard King and any of the other scraping gods would probably have a heart attack if they read how it did this).
Please note: what I did here was to make the mill more functional by correcting the major bearing surface problems. It is just a start down the road of scraping / blueing / checking all the surfaces to each other. It would probably take a few days to do this effectively with power tools and quite a bit longer with hand tools only. But, the gib can now be installed without a fight and no paper shimming is required.
So the gib: it does have a slight bend (a thou or two) in the center. I don’t think it is so bad that it can’t be salvaged. The bigger problem is the taper angle is not quite correct; the thin end is too thick (or the thick end too thin) by about 2-3 thou. The same amount that Craig sees as table slop in Y. The way to correct that is to accurately measure the error, surface grind the new geometry and then scrape to fit. Or it could all be step scraped out. Possibly a project for the future?
In the mean time we installed “push screws” 1.25” from each saddle end to take up the slop. The gib locks can thus be used as normal.
Craig will make brass pads for all his gib locking screws and the new push screws so that the steel does not bear directly on the cast iron (like is does from factory) and mar up the gib surface.