I thought some more about turning down the ends of the lead screws and figured out a way to add extensions without turning the ends of the lead screws. More info on that thought later.
Today I picked up a piece of 1/4" x 3" x 24" steel I ordered from the local Fastenal store that I thought was going to be regular cold rolled steel for making the Z axis slider plate. It turned out to be that size - but was precision ground flat stock. It looked too good to let them have it back even at the price I was having to pay for it.
I also ordered 8 linear carriages from www.cncrouterparts.com today. I should have the work table stiffened up by end of this weekend - just in time to start making steel parts again.
CarveOne