Noisy X-Axis after crash

X50 Woodworker here. Doing a carve yesterday, the 1/4EM seemed to slip out of the collet while cutting a profile. When it plunged for its next pass, the bit stayed in the wood, router kept moving to the right. This occurred on the opposite end from the stepper.

Now I’ve got a grinding noise in the x-axis. Whether I move it by hand or with joypad, it makes a grinding noise, sounds more like a clicking than a grinding. When I move it by hand, does not seem difficult to move, so I doubt its binding. The noise is def more pronounced in the end furthest from stepper.

Ideas?

Now that I’ve had time to listen, sounds like a single ball bearing flopping around in the end opposite the X stepper motor.

I would like to think that the shaft coupler between the X stepper and X ballscrew would break before a bearing but, of course, that would be at the stepper’s end.

I’m assuming you’ve already attempting a homing procedure. I’m wondering if it’s possible for the ballscrew retaining nut at the end of the shaft to come loose? If the noise isn’t actually coming from the bearing attached to Z along the ballscrew, I can only surmise that there’s something come loose, or worse, broken at that end of X.

Darn. It took me longer to write the first 2 posts than it did to fix. Took the nut off the end of the screw and noticed the noise disappeared. Seems like the washer in there was making the noise, likely caused by a loose nut. Tightened it back and its gone. Oh well.

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Well, hey, glad ya got it sorted. :slight_smile: