I watched the Shopbot Training video on machine maintenance. The part about checking for wear on the rack and pinions got my attention. I have a 12 year old benchtop PRT 4G. With the machine turned on I tried to move the X Y and Z axis as recommended. Only the X axis showed movement. Using a dial indicator I saw that there was approx. 0.020" of play. With a visual check of the pinions I could not see any wear or misalignment.
Is 0.020" of play an amount to be concerned about?
Also I am aware that most of the use of my machine is within the center of the X axis, middle to center of the Y axis and a fairly short range on the Z axis. It makes sense to me that there would be wear to the racks in the range most used. Would it be a good idea to flip all three racks end for end to access parts of the racks with far less use?