Atlas Shaper Gib Issues

[J Tiers]

I was thinking that the gib may have slid out due perhaps to not having screw pockets, and that the action of forcing it back in may have raised the burr, and bent it. The previous owner seems not to have had much "machine sense".

Probably we are both wrong, and some other feather brained action was the cause.

[Wheels17]

There are screw pockets on the back of the gib, but I think J Tiers is right about what happened to the gib.

But the saga continues.....

Here's the ground flat stock supplied overnight by McMaster-Carr:


They're sending me a new one tomorrow.

[rkepler]

Here's the ground flat stock supplied overnight by McMaster-Carr:

They're sending me a new one tomorrow.

Use that one for practice, putting the scratched side on the static side of the gib.

[BCRider]

I was thinking that the gib may have slid out due perhaps to not having screw pockets, and that the action of forcing it back in may have raised the burr, and bent it. The previous owner seems not to have had much "machine sense".

Probably we are both wrong, and some other feather brained action was the cause.

Quite possible, quite possible. When it comes to finding creative ways to foul up a good machine I'm rather happy to admit that we're babes in the woods. There's folks out there that are far better at buggering up stuff in ways that we could never imagine.

[BCRider]

That's rather odd that it has a scratch on it. Maybe the top piece of a wrapped stack that got the scratch from the knife?

If it's not bent at all then it's not a big deal. Stone the other side a bit more smooth to be the wear face and use the scratched side for the gib screw pockets.

[J Tiers]

Quite possible, quite possible. When it comes to finding creative ways to foul up a good machine I'm rather happy to admit that we're babes in the woods. There's folks out there that are far better at buggering up stuff in ways that we could never imagine.

No s***. The dragster building guy I bought the Rivett from was pretty unbelievable.... Absolutely filthy it was, with various parts in the drawers instead of on the machine....



To turn it on, he plugged it into the wall outlet, no switch.

The picture doe not do it justice, it was dirtuier than that, and the slides had been run into the chuck several times.... evidently he, or someone, was a slow learner. There was dog kibble in the drawers.... and that is the back gear you see in the drawer... not a tooth left on the pinion.



parts have cleaned up nicely and have been re-scraped, but is still not finished.

[RichR]

That's rather odd that it has a scratch on it. Maybe the top piece of a wrapped stack that got the scratch from the knife?

If it's not bent at all then it's not a big deal. Stone the other side a bit more smooth to be the wear face and use the scratched side for the gib screw pockets.

Looks like someone scribed a mark into it for cutting and then returned it to McMaster. Look at the left end. You can see where the scribe was
run through a second time.

[BCRider]

Looks like someone scribed a mark into it for cutting and then returned it to McMaster. Look at the left end. You can see where the scribe was
run through a second time.

If that was the case the guy that scribed the lines needs to switch to decaf.... Not straight and not parallel to the edge for any of them. That's why I was thinking knife cuts. The short stabby marks being where they didn't get through the tape on the first long swipe of the knife.

Come to think of it whenever I've bought ground flat stock it came off the shelf in some of that corrosion inhibiting paper. Not in this case?

[Stepside]

If the Gib does not move as when equipped with pins or ears as well as pockets for set screws then the scratch would be fine on the non-rubbing surface.

It sure fun to follow someone that thinks a 3 pound single jack is a precision fitting and/or repair tool.

[Mcgyver]

I know some joker on here will say

some joker like say Forrest?

http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/46259-gibs

Anyone hear from Forrest lately? He's been awfully quiet.

[J Tiers]

It sure fun to follow someone that thinks a 3 pound single jack is a precision fitting and/or repair tool.

???????????? Which wall did that come from?

[Stepside]

J Tiers

It was a simple remark about following some meathead that has beat the crap out of a machine while"fixing" it. I have repaired a large number of crawler tractors, back hoe's, large trucks. as well s an assortment of machine tools. Sometimes the person who fixed it just made the task a real pain.

The Shaper Gib that started this blog sure looks like a "hammer mechanic" had tried a repair. In no way was it meant to apply to any person on this board.

Pete

[J Tiers]

...

The Shaper Gib that started this blog sure looks like a "hammer mechanic" had tried a repair. In no way was it meant to apply to any person on this board.

Pete

OK, Sorry I did not "get it"... I thought it was aimed at the OP, but you actually meant the owner before him... And I think you are being charitable... whoever it was sounds totally clueless about machinery, he makes the typical "bubba" look like a genius..

[Wheels17]

I figure I owe you guys a followup from all the excellent advice I received.
I started by making special screws for the work. The larger screw is so that I can bolt the upper dovetail assembly to the fixturing through existing 3/8 threaded holes, and the other fits the gib screw holes and will guide the drill bit when cutting the gib screw holes.


I bolted the upper dovetail assembly directly to the mill table and checked it for vertical alignment. Vertical was within .0015, but it would not align squarely in the plane of the table. This does not matter. I put dowel pins behind the gib, and used machinist clamps and a cobbled machinist's jack to hold the gib.


I turned the gib over and set it on a couple of shims. Something went awry and the gib turned out to be about .020 narrow. I had plenty of stock, so for the second one, I set it on a parallel. It came out within .001 of the original gib. Here you can see the dowel pin peeking out from under the machinist's clamp.


For the gib screw pockets, I mounted the upper dovetail on an angle plate. I got it parallel to the table, clamped the narrow gib in for practice, and it shifted during drilling.
When I fixtured the good gib, I added some clamps to keep it up tight in the dovetail.


I hit the picture limit, so more to come.

[Wheels17]

On the holes that were in the proper position on the "practice" gib, there was still some difficulty getting the gib over the screws. I figured I'd take some of the tolerance out by allowing a little clearance on the top of the gib, so I added some .010 shims above the gib before drilling the pockets. It's just below the red arrow.


For drilling the pockets with a flat bottom, I ground a 5/32 bit flat on the face and ground some clearance behind the cutting edge. I drilled through the bushings shown earlier and it went well this time. I don't know if it's clear from the picture, but one of the gib screws was very crooked from the factory. In any event the new gib is complete and the assembly works very smoothly. Thanks for all the advice. Now on to the next subassembly.