As always, solid advice. I had thought of slaving a second spindle on the side of the column - the bed is over-long for the available travel, so that might be feasible (I thought it originally too silly, but to have another suggest it gives me more confidence). Only problem is the available height of material (cast iron?, I think) to mount the motor bracket is around 20mm, and I'd have to be careful not to drill/tap into the bearing that it holds... I could probably fit an additional stabilising bracket higher up the enclosure... I'll think about that.

A new head housing?, Hmm, I need to get into the shed tomorrow (maybe saturday, drinks with the lads tomorrow) to have a look at that. I won't be able to machine that myself, but I've had satisfaction with help given by others on here before now.

I'm thinking, I've got stock in the shed to make a couple of custom mounts so I might tinker with a second/slave spindle in the first instance.

Thanks Jazz.