Sharp 13X40VS cross slide crumbling

Hopefully this is the right section for this. I have a lathe that I purchased new three years ago and it’s cross slide is causing me a problem.

The top slide is secured by two bolts which pull the nuts upward inside of a circular T slot cut into the cross slide. I go back and forth between two angles that I use on the top slide and those two spots in the circular T slot have worn out completely where the nuts make contact.

I called Sharp and was told that they only warranty their machines for 1 year. Right now I’m waiting to hear back from the email that I sent because they refuse to talk about it or take an order over the phone. This is frustrating because I’m dead in the water until I get it repaired. If I have to replace this part every few years I’d rather figure out a way to modify it so it secures in an entirely different way.

If any of you have had the same problem I would be interested in hearing what you did to resolve it.

Thank you,
Marc

bigger tee nuts perhaps to spread the load? If you can get them in the slot...

A few photos would help. Many times people put the saddle on a rotary table and mill out the area around the T slots and mate a new one made from steel
That they bolt in. I wonder if you overtightend the original...

I had to repair my lathe as Richard describes.

The root of the issue is that they try to keep the cross slide as low as possible so they can advertise a larger swing. This leads to a very thin cross slide. Mine had only .125 thickness above the T nut and it actually broke a large section out of the cross slide where the T nut was tightened. It was designed to fail.

I'd be tempted to machine a ring, the thickness of the nut or what will fit vertically in the slot, and with an ID and OD to fit the slot, then cut two segments and tap them for the bolts. This would spread out the contact area the nut occupied.