I am sure somebody can tell me why this is a stupid idea, but I needed
to get this ball nut off the ball screw without dumping the balls all
over the floor. I don't know if the screw is salvageable or not. Its got
a bend in it somewhere. If its just in the machining in the end I might
be able to turn it down and machine some bushings. If the screw is bent
in the main span its done. I might be able to straighten that, but it
wouldn't be very accurate anymore. Normally guys screw the nut off onto
a piece of cardboard tube, but I have bad luck with that. This hand made
stub of aluminum "ballscrew" mates up with the end of the ballscrew I
need to check, and I was able to just screw the nut off onto the stub. I
had to hand grind a radius tool out of HSS in order to thread the
holder. It took me a couple hours, but it worked out perfectly. Of
course that time is wasted except for the learning experience if I can't
save the screw.

Anyway, now I can roll the screw on my granite surface plate and
determine where its bent.

http://tacklemaker.info/gallery/1_25_01_18_6_00_57.jpeg