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Replace plastic gib for more rigidity?

ions82

Stainless
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Location
ABQ, NM
Hello!

I recently aquired a MEP/Dake cold saw. It's a bit of a mutant, actually. The head travels on dovetail ways, and it used to have a powered feed. However, it has since been converted for manual use (before I got it). It seems to cut well and gets the job done.

Anyway, while making my way through its first job, I was getting some unpleasant "feedback" from time to time. I was cutting 1.5" round (6061). I made sure the pieces were held tightly in the vise and was careful while feeding. When I started adjusting the gib, I couldn't quite get it dialed in. Long story short, I removed the gib after deciding to make new hardware for it and found that the gib itself is made out of some sort of plastic. I was taught that machining metal is all about rigidity, and plastic gibs just seem counter-intuitive to me. Is there a reason that this machine might have such a thing? Would replacing it with a metal gib make a noticeable difference or be worth the time/effort? It is a wedge-type, so making a new one may be a little tricky. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Even when the gib was loose enough to permit lateral movement, the head travel was still binding. I'd really like to be able to have smooth travel as jerky movements of the blade makes for a tedious job. Thank you for checking out my post!
 








 
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