Quote Originally Posted by Saltfever View Post
Welcome back, Tony. Very nice write up. What do you think about a piece of Teflon instead of steel for the gib? I would probably throw the plate away and just use 2 pieces of steel with a v-notch in each piece.
Steel, brass, TEFLONŽ, each have properties that lend desired result. Steel, easily worked, available and dissimilar enough to the ram material to not gall, with a bit of lube. Brass meets those too; I'd cut shim stock long enough (protruding both ends of plate) folded over to keep it in place. Depending on thickness, all 6 screws could be used to distribute pressure evenly. All kinds of non-metallics have potential and sort of endless supply. Holding in place could be simple as a pocket milled into the plates inner side.