Best Ways to Increase Rigidity?

I notice some chatter in the spindle under relatively mild cutting conditions. I have the 1000mm machine. My first experiment will be to connect the two x axis makerslides together - there appears to be an 11/64 to 3/16" gap between the two. Has anyone developed a way to firmly connect these two together? What other methods have been employed to increase rigidity? I’d hate to go down a rabbit hole if there are others with more experience.

My ideas are:

  1. Connecting the two x-axis pieces by placing 3/16" shims between the two slides and using bolts all the way through.
  2. Mounting a strip of aluminum along the top and bottom of the x-axis pieces using tapped screws and Aluminum “Lab Metal” to form a permanent bond (should eliminated rotational flex)
  3. Constructing a new universal spindle plate using 1/4" Aluminum, 1" longer than the standard plate. This allows me to move the Z-axis wheels farther apart and to add a third set of wheels in the middle. Also will allow greater spacing between the two generic spindle mount brackets for more stability.
  4. Putting supports midway along the Y-axis makerslides to prevent bowing.
  5. Using a larger nema 23 stepper on the x-axis (double stack) for greater torque and rear mass to offset the imbalance created by the forward mounted spindle.

Any comments or suggestions?

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Here are a threads where I talk about how I may go about increasing rigidity.

Dave