I can't adjust my Y-axis gibs at all. If I have the Y axis as far back as I can go then adjust the gibs so it is smooth with little play then the table will not be able to go very far towards me before it locks up. If I adjust the Y-axis gibs when the table is as close to the user as possible it will have lots of play when I move the table back away from me. I taken every thing apart and cleaned/oiled it to no avail. I have also tried to work the Y axis in an attempt to break in the dovetails, but that achieved limited results after working it for around an hour.

Any ideas? Did I get a crappy table? Would getting new a new gib help?

Thanks for the help

Sometimes the gib strips are bent pretty badly. I leveled mine by lapping it against sandpaper on a surface plate until it was relatively flat (within ~.001") which helped. however, sometimes the dovetails themselves are in need of working-over as well. I'd at least pull the gib strip and check it first, though.

I pulled it out but just noted the surface finish, which wasn't spectacular to say the least. If I have time after midterms tomorrow I will rip everything apart again and do some better inspections.

I have access to a high school machine shop with a huge (old) bridgeport, a few lathes, and a smallish CNC. Do you think making new gibs would be helpful? I am on the robotics team and they want to take my X2 to competition in case we needed to mill anything last minute, however right now with the gibs binding up and causing problems I'm not sure how helpful it would be.

You could make replacements out of brass, and that might allow you to run a little tighter than the stock ones. If you have a school machine shop, you should check to see if you have a surface grinder--that'd be the way to fix the stock gib.

I can't adjust my Y-axis gibs at all. If I have the Y axis as far back as I can go then adjust the gibs so it is smooth with little play then the table will not be able to go very far towards me before it locks up. If I adjust the Y-axis gibs when the table is as close to the user as possible it will have lots of play when I move the table back away from me. I taken every thing apart and cleaned/oiled it to no avail. I have also tried to work the Y axis in an attempt to break in the dovetails, but that achieved limited results after working it for around an hour.

Any ideas? Did I get a crappy table? Would getting new a new gib help?

Thanks for the help

It sounds to me like your ways are not parallel. If that is the case making a new gib won't solve the problem.

Alan

I lapped it a little and realigned everything. Now the problem has switched sides! It binds when the table is far away. I tried forever to get everything aligned so that it is smooth all the way through but I wasn't able to. I do believe it is an alignment issue, however, since I can loosen the gibs a lot and it will still bind a little (not as much as when they are tight) when the table is pushed all the way back.