In article ,
Gunner Asch wrote:
On Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:24:05 -0400, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:
I wonder if gibs must be cast iron, or would brass suffice? I would
guess that if brass were best, brass would be used, and yet cast iron is
universally used.
It's a heavily loaded part, under constant movement. Brass is sometimes
used on very small, lightly loaded machines, but they wear very fast.
Aluminum bronze or silicon bronze would be better, but they will still
wear faster than the cast iron gibs.
If Clausing has them..shrug..
It's $153.65.
Cringe......
drop an email to and see if he has any parts
machines like yours that you could get a gib from.
My fear is that gibs from a parts machine will also be worn.
It's still cheaper to drill and tap a hole in the side of the slide and
install a socket head capscrew as a slide lock bearing on the outside
of the current gib.
That worked quite well for me on a well worn Clausing Chipmaster.
I do like the idea. I just looked -- there is plenty of meat and the
drilling and tapping job would be dead easy, as the compound is
rectangular, with machined surfaces all around.
Shrug..your machine.
I'll be doing some measuring, to see how worn the dovetails are. If
they are not that worn, then I'll probably get a new gib. If they are
worn, then it's the side-clamp screws. Actually, I might do both.
Joe Gwinn