Warco WM290v-F: tapered gib

[redhouseluv]

My lathe needed a major gib adjustment today and I discovered the reason why (see pics). Much to my dismay I found this piece sitting in the swarf tray!

When I first bought this lathe I considered changing the gib as it was secondhand. Warco advised this can be a right pain as they just supply a square piece of steel which then needs to have the correct taper put on it which is not an easy job even for someone who knows what there doing let alone me. (This is aside from the 3 month wait for the part). Given the YouTube videos I have watched on the subject and the machinery used, I would agree!

HELP: Does anyone know of someone who can help me or know of a gib grinding service?

Luckily (if you can call it that) the piece which has snapped off is at the back end of the gib and I can still able to tighten it, although I'm doing this very gingerly. In a few months I'm going to have to move the lathe into storage and this seems like the perfect opportunity to get this fixed as I can remove the broken gib which can then be used as a template (I've seen this on some of the videos I've watched)

I would really appreaciate some help with this as this looks incredibly tricky to get right?

[Laurentic]

Did you buy this secondhand from Warco?  If so, then surely they can do better for their customer than a three month wait for a gib strip that you have to then machine to size yourself, not exactly good customer service if indeed that were to be the case? Is not the 290 V-F a current lathe they market?

Just a thought,
Chris

[Jasonb]

I wonder how the previous owner managed to damage that, possibly damage from the crash that also broke the feed shaft clutch?

From other spare taper gibs that I have seen they don't so much need filing as "fitting" so they are shaped to the correct cross section and have a constant taper along their length. During manufacture the taper of the saddle and cross slide may not match that of the new gib exactly so they need blueing to see where they are making contact and any high spots removing by scraping or you may be able to get away with careful draw filing.

The new gib may be supplied overlength and need trimming, this is the case with the Sieg ones so Warco may be the same but that is a simple job and better than being supplied a gib that goes too fat into the space.

[redhouseluv]

Warco very helpfully called me back earlier and they had found a gib for WM290 during their move. If I understand you, hopefully it'll be a case of time and some gentle scrapping/filing which sounds a lot better than trying to match the profile.

Should I fit the gib into position, once blued, and then move the cross slide in/out to see the contact points?

[redhouseluv]

Hi Laurentic

No, this is an older WM290 bought from eBay

Warco found a WM290 gib in amongst their spares which was very lucky and this arrived today. I'm looking at it (see pics) and it has very defined parallel ridges running down both sides. I'm thinking these need removing first before the blueing exercise can commence; maybe start with gently draw filing to get down to a visually flat/smooth surface?

Then I guess blue it, see where the high spots are, then either scrape or more draw filing as Jason has suggested........I dunno, I have a scraper, but have never used it in anger

[Jasonb]

Yes definately want it smooth, its a lot rougher than the Sieg ones.

Before you do that can you measure thethickness at either end to see if it has any taper to it.

[Bruno Mueller]

These tapered bars are very often made of very soft cast iron. These are very sensitive when they fall on the floor.
I would clamp the strip in the opposite direction to the old strip and mill off a few 1/100 mm on the milling machine.

[redhouseluv]

There is definitely a taper to it; I think the way I have taken the picture does not show this clearly

These tapered bars are very often made of very soft cast iron. These are very sensitive when they fall on the floor.
I would clamp the strip in the opposite direction to the old strip and mill off a few 1/100 mm on the milling machine.

I agree, from the piece of the broken old gib, and the general feel of the new one, it certainly seems like it would not do well if it impacted the floor

Forgive me, I'm not following the 'clamp in the opposite direction' part of your comment; please explain? I was also thinking of how best to hold the gib when scraping it; clamp either end to the bench scrap as much as possible and then move the clamps to scrape underneth I guess?

I haven't measured the length yet, but its definitely too long, so was thinking of cutting to size once I have a good fit?

[Jasonb]

Any taper is very slight along the length

It seems it is like I said longer than the oled one which is usually to allow it's taper to fit any machine where the gap may vary slightly allowing it to slide if by different amounts and you then trim it to suit. As it is longer you can hold it down by the thick end only to do any hand work.

I think Bruno was suggesting laying the old gib down first then the new one on top, any taper running the opposite way which is a bit like a "folding wedge" and the top surface will then be parallel to the mill bed.

[redhouseluv]

Right I get it now, thick end  for holding - I will still check everything before starting and have viewed a few videos on scraping techinique which from a layman's view looks aggressive!

Very ingenioius regarding creating the wedge to get the setup pararllel on the mill; I like it, thanks Bruno 

[Bruno Mueller]

Yes, exactly as shown in the drawing above.
Thanks #Jasonb#