I got to messing with my machine again today. Fired it up and noticed a lot more vibration than usual. I think one (or both) of the bearings in the spindle are going out. Stuck a 30 degree 0.1 engraver in it and ran a very slow (30mm/m) 0.1mm deep line down a scrap piece of PCB. In a perfect world, it would have produced a very small and neat line. But the result was a line nearly 1mm wide. I fiddled with the collet thinking it could be the issue. Same result. I'm hoping it will still be close enough to machine a temporary guide block for the new spindle.
A bit disappointed even though I really shouldn't be. I mean, I did manage to get a good 7 or 8 hours out of this motor.
How's that "idea" coming along? (I would say I'm sorry. But I'm not :D)