I have been spending literally all my disposable income (and some not so disposable) on parts for my machine, mostly off of Ebay. So far, aside form my mistakes, I've been getting along well. But today, one of the most expensive purchases I've made thusfar arrived on my doorstep, and was eagerly unpacked: My 48 inch travel ballscrew. Precision ground, C3, 1.25 inch diameter, the works. I paid almost $400 for it. It arrived in a PVC TUBE! The ball nut was used to support the assembly in the tube, and it must have taken some HUGE falls, because the nut is nearly frozen solid on the shaft. The worst part is, I paid a premium to get a screw that was NOS.

The balls appear to have been flatspotted, the nut will only move with a crunchy motion in one direction down the shaft. Try to go the other way, and the nuts locks like a ratchet. I rolled the wipers down the shaft a bit to see of something got into the nut, but it is clean. I flushed the assembly some with light oil, and nothing came out. There is some rotational play before the ballnut even engages, and though I cannot see any damage to the shaft, I'm sure the whole thing is FUBAR. I am absolutely devastated. I had a chance to buy many other screws which were even better than this one, but I passed them over. Now I have to find another screw just like this one- the machine is already coming together, and parts have been cut. I am absolutely screwed. :drowning: