Way Smoothing, instead of Way Scraping?

[jwmay]

File this under “too little, too late”, but if it’s me, I’m not altering the sliding surfaces until I’ve run the machine and proven beyond doubt that it’s necessary.

And as others have said, sandpaper is not your friend here.

 

[Optic Eyes]

You may not require the precision but you certainly need the ways to be tight, otherwise the slop will induce chatter and chatter will wear the machine faster, breaking cutters and ruining parts in the process.

The tighter the ways, the more the machine acts like one solid chunk of iron. The precision of the ways is just to ensure it continues to fit tight along the travel distance. That's why professional machines come with hardened ways: to preserve the original geometry as long as possible.

Machine ways work because of sliding fits, A vertical mill using a two flute end mill might never break a cutter if you conventional mill, the problem is the crud lead screws on the machines and no adjustable backlash nuts, machine ways need space for the oil to allow movement, .001 to .0015 per joint, way lube viscosity and weight considered.

 

[Optic Eyes]

File this under “too little, too late”, but if it’s me, I’m not altering the sliding surfaces until I’ve run the machine and proven beyond doubt that it’s necessary.

And as others have said, sandpaper is not your friend here.

The Gibs are first, lead screws next, condition of ways, oil lines needing opening up, correct way lubricant.
Touch up rebuilds are OK for home shops and can be done quickly.