Hmm, thanks, I have doubts now, not good;)

I wanted accuracy for small part cutting in thinner materials, so high speed without wiggle on the torch.

Putting the screw and rail under the beam is ok but is filling the gap I wanted left clear for large sheet entry, likely only a few inches clearance left and the covers will be at risk of taking a battering from sheets.

I see machines like PlasmaCam (which I think have a good name?) running simple plate/skate runners but they do use servo drive, they seem to work ok. Other production builds like Torchmate and PrecisionPlasma use various other simple systems ranging from belt to R&P. All mostly with not much regard paid to keeping the muck off of transport parts.

But there again, none of them using ballscrew either!

I'm not sure where this project is going now, back to stage 1.