The stock bearings were bad; I guess I forgot to mention that. I got the mill used and the previous owner didn't really understand the MT#3 and had wailed on the spindle to get the tooling out. The bearings were noisy and had much more run-out than I wanted.
I'm sure I could have gotten the bearings cheaper online, but I went to a local supplier. I had ordered online and they sent the wrong part. I had a limited window to get the project done and couldn't wait for another online order to arrive.
I'm sure I overspent but the end result is a much much better mill. Considering I got the mill for free, I'm still ahead on it. It now has a solid column, large table, belt drive, air spring, new bearings, and 3-axis DRO system with Bluetooth Touch DRO The mill also came with 2 vises, a coax indicator, dial test indicator, end mills, reamer set, edge finders, parallels and a nice vintage Kennedy 520 chest.
All told I'm into the mill for around $600
I guess I don't feel too bad about over spending on the bearings.
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