The gibs for both the compound and the cross slide were in need of replacement. The compound gib was the original, but it looked like it had been bent and re-straightened. The cross slide "gib" looked like a piece of steel from the home depot hobby rack with some crude dimples drilled in the back.
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| Back side of gibs - Top to bottom: Old Compound,New Compound, Old Cross slide, New Cross slide | Front side of gibs - Top to bottom: Old Compound,New Compound, Old Cross slide, New Cross slide |
The replacements are made from ground low carbon steel flat stock from McMaster. The Compound is 3/32 thick while the cross is 1/8 thick. To properly bevel the edges and to get the maximum bearing surface possible, I clamped the raw stock in the compound and cross slide housings and held the housings in the mill.
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| Beveling the compound gib |
Beveling the cross slide gib |
To cut the set screw pockets in the back, I set up my Tom Lipton style mini palete at a 30 degree angle.
I put two screws in front to line the gib up in Y and used some mini toe clamps to hold the gib in place. I used a set screw in the housing to mark the location for each dimple. Using a small end mill, I cut the pockets sideways. This way the dog point set screws have a nice flat surface to push up against.
