Well I guess everyone is following the thread along pretty closely--that is good--
Now, back to the wear strips--
The next step is to prepare two pieces of hard maple or beech, this has to be good quality and as dry as possible, preferably been in storage for 2 to 3 years (after air drying for one year) in a dry environment--I personally like a hay mow, but you might also have an attic area that serves the purpose well.
Now the process of preparing these pieces, remember I said you should make 2 pairs, well if you have the material at hand you might just as well do 4 pair
The material has to be the height of the head block plus 1" above and 1" below so in total 26" in length
The other dimensions are 4" wide, and a full 1" in thickness. These finished measurements are after bringing the material down from the rough to these dimensions
I would hope that you use hand tools to do this work because I find that the old equipment accepts readily and responds to hand worked parts, for what ever reasons---------------
Now you take the head block and lay it on the work bench suspended on 3\4" cross pieces,--this will hold the head block at the right elevation in relation to the wear strips for the next step--
It is imperative that the worktable has a tried and proven flat surface
Now taking the wear strips and placing them 1 on each side, remembering to place them 1' above and 1" below the guide block, you clamp them securely with bar clamps
at this point you are ready to fasten them to the guide block in a manner that they are easily removed but secure to the point of not failing
