Is this part good or bad?

Hmm, I'm not sure how that happened. They don't look like that when I take them out of the gluing jig. Perhaps it happened in packaging, maybe I didn't wait long enough for the glue to fully set before putting it in the box.

Anyway, it looks like you should be able to get bolts through it, there should be clearance. If not, you can open the holes up. If you don't have a drill I can send a replacement, but you need a drill to complete the rest of the assembly anyway.

I'm not too worried about the four exterior holes, but how important is the center hole? If it lines everything up, and something needs to sit in there at 90 degrees, then I'll be concerned about not having it sit well. While there is wood in the way on one side that I can easily get rid of, it's the open gap left on the other side that I can't fill in too easily. It would make something lean or sit loose.

If that center hole won't be a problem to the alignment of the machine, I'll just use my dremel to clean it up. It's the alignment I'm worried about mostly.

Thanks for your help, and I'm glad you didn't know about it happening. If anyone else has had this issue, I'd love to hear whether it affected, or didn't affect your setup. If it is a non important issue, I'm looking forward to getting into the build now that my concussion is over

Ahhh, so no touching is the goal That is perfect, then!

Thanks!

You will probably want the top and bottom to be square as those are probably the sides that will be screwed in to.
It is important that the auger thrust loads up the thrust bearing and not the gear box
Keeping the gearbox output shaft inline with the auger input shaft is good for longevity and noise.