Gib adjustment tragedy

[zephyr9900]

I screwed the front Y gib screw screwdriver-tight, then backed off 2 full turns per the current Tormach instructions. After snugging up the rear screw, the collar is just below the surface of the saddle, so the gib will not slip past it. It seems OK, but if I need to do any more adjustment, it will be gib-end-trimming time.

An irrelevant side note is that the silicone caulk I used on the ends of the waycover had more affinity for the Tormach paint, than the paint did for the machine.

I'll do Z tomorrow.

Randy

[justgary]

Randy -

I'm glad you're back in action.

Just last night (OK, early this morning) I looked over the saddle on my machine and noticed that the paint is peeling where the coolant pours over the end of the vise. My machine is only four months old, but I suppose that the coolant could have something to do with it. I'm using Syn-Kool, mainly because I needed something and it was handy at the time.

At least I haven't noticed any reaction between *me* and the coolant, and I don't have problems with rancidity. I have noticed it slightly blackening aluminum when taking very fine cuts at fairly high RPM. Borax, perhaps.

Regards,

- Just Gary

[David Bord]

Randy, I have a similiar problem with a thin gib which sticks out like yours did when tightening down. Bob from Tormach suggested epoxying shim stock to the no sliding surface. This would keep the gib as long as possible. While more work, it might be a better solution.

David

[zephyr9900]

David, that is an interesting suggestion. Thank you for passing it on.

I personally would be concerned about holding thickness tolerance along the length of the gib so that the fit was as good as the unmodified gib. I suppose installing the gib at least loosely after the epoxy starts to set up would do, as long as the process of sliding it in didn't cause the shim to slide off lengthwise.

On the other hand, trimming the end of the shifted original gib at an extreme case might uncover a lubrication channel, which would not be good either.

Fortunately for my machine, the Y gib is just trapped by the rear screw, and the Z gib has maybe 1/2" more adjustment possible. Since I readjusted the Z gib, the head doesn't drop any more! The first time in my machine's life, even though I adjusted the gib twice a long time ago by the "40-80 lbs pulldown" method...

Randy