ADJUSTING GIBS ON MILLING MACHINES OR OTHER MACHINES.

[Richard King 2]

I was telling a member of another forum how to check gib clearance today and wanted to show a You-Tube show my friend Adam Booth made of how I showed him how to check and adjust gib clearance. You can scroll to minutes 9, 14 and 22. When adjusting gib clearance you need to take in account the wear in the ways and non wear area's and make a happy medium. Most cast on cast machines need a minimum of .0005" clearance per side or a total of .001" clearance. To tight and there is no space for way oil. If it has Turcite then you can slowly tighten the gib to zero clearance or .0002" per side. When measuring ...push and release, pull and release and only measure the "lost motion" or gap. You can push and pull to hard and bend things. Also on large machines with heavy parts, chuck up (vise) a long 4 x 4 and push and pull it to increase the leverage.

This technique can be used on all machines with gibs. Lathe cross-slide, headstock on a VMC, etc.