Back together - and improved vise mounting

Back in there this evening, aiming to put it all back together with belts, gib(s) etc adjusted, hoping to reduce the backlash somewhat. 

The belt adjustment was simple enough and seems to have reduced the backlash a bit. Didn't write down any actual measurement but we figured out last night that it was one of the contributors.

The gib was easy enough to adjust, tightening it up gradually until it started to bind, then backing off to find the sweet spot. With the cover off the Y axis belt drive, it's possible to move the table back and forth. This allows you to tell when the gibs are biting.

Of course a machine with box ways will have 2 more gibs to hold the table down, so once I'd removed the small wipers, I was able to check they weren't flapping about. They won't affect the backlash but it seemed the right time to do it.

Front left:

 Front right:

 Back left:

 The left gib comes out easily enough. It also has the anti-friction coating.

The bottom line? Some improvement. With the 10um Mitutoyo DTI I measured the backlash by moving in one direction, zeroing the controller, continuing on past, then coming back and stopping at the zero. The value on the display shows the backlash. I'm now consistently measuring between 50 and 70um (~2-3 thou) on the Y axis. I suppose that's an improvement. Realistically that looks like about the best I'll manage.

I can't help feeling that the design of the saddle, with the ballscrew on the right of the machine, causes the table to rotate slightly due to the slop that must exist if there is any finite clearance on the slideways. I doubt I've managed to adjust it to the best possible condition but for now I guess it's reasonably good. 

Due to the height of the Perspex machine guards and the need to minimise the extension of the quill (it has only limited movement as it is), I ended up mounting the machine vise on top of some steel bar stock. Recently I managed to acquire a pair of 4" high precision parallels from a guy on the ME forum. This will raise the vise slightly further and hopefully also improve the rigidity of the vise assembly. It currently relies on the pulldown studs and I'm not convinced it's adequate. So it's time to remove it, clean everything down carefully and remount it with the new parallels.

Here we go:

Before cleaning. Black steel bars just about visible under the vise. Fitted diagonally in vain attempt to maximise stability in both X and Y directions.

These are the parallels. Cost something like £50, which seems fair.

 The old setup: