Jonathan, kudos for thinking outside the box (or should i say table) i had never thought about doing it like that

i2i, i didn't quite grasp your concept but i would certainly like to hear you elaborate on your idea, btw im only focusing on the x axis at the moment

i had a look at some of the smaller nuts available and on average was coming up with a bill of £200 for 2 8mm nuts and 600mm of screw with 10mm screw being marginally cheaper
compare that to 1204 ballscrews which i can get all 3 screws and nuts for £85