Ah. Thanks a lot for that. Aye coming from a belt driven build too so something more stiff is in order this time. Yep the rack and pinion sounds like a perfect solution for that size (that's a big machine, jealous) this one has a cutting area of around 1100mm x 750mm ish but should be big enough for my needs. I do a lot of aluminium work and bits of hardwood so don't need anything too large. You never know i might go for an 8x4 machine down the line.