The Mrs aint gonna be happy about this little project!

[Jonathan]

but if it's out of spec for the bearing before i even start, well that puts the mockers on that idea. Any idea how 90x45 ali extrusion would cope over 2m?

I should have been clearer, it might be out too much even before welding, but you can get round that. Instead of welding three pieces together couldn't you start with one or two bigger sections, then bolt them to a back plate? If you have a fastener every 100mm or so you can use them to adjust and remove the bend enough to mount the rails. Two pieces of 90x45 aluminum extrusion to mount the rails on would be fine, or you could use aluminium box section.

I would have liked to have the ballscrew mount on the Z axis upright so I would have to remove the middle box section and bolt to a 20mm back plate but then then is no room for the ballscrew mount unless the width of Y is 200mm+ to accomodate the mount as i feel it best to surround the Y bearings. Y ballscrew is currently 100mm off centre from the Y bearings.

Spacing the Y-rails out 200mm+ to accommodate the ballnut mount would be good as in addition to making the axis much more rigid due to the ballnut being in the optimal position, it will also make make it stronger because the bearings are further apart. However you don't want the rails too far apart without increasing the spacing of the bearing blocks since it risks them skewing/racking. The ballnut mount could be made a fair bit shorter by moving the mounting holes and having only one available ratio without changing the belt.