I'm working on a bike and I'm having trouble telling whether the fork is slightly tweaked or not. You certainly can't tell by looking at it. There are no paint ripples. Using a straight edge, the head tube is in line with the fork blades.

The problem is I can't get a good adjustment on the headset. If I adjust it so there is no play, it binds a bit when turning the fork blade (it's basically adjusted right when the fork is facing forward and is too tight when you move it side to side.

I don't think this is the headset. I popped new ball bearings in the HS and the surfaces all looked good.

Is a slightly tweaked steerer column the most likely reason I'm getting some binding?

The most straightforward way to solve the problem is to buy a new fork, right?