Taig as XZ lathe slide

What about bolting the XY part of a Taig mill to the bed of a
Hardinge HC Chucker to make a CNC? Who has one of these mills that
can vouch for stiffness?
How easy would it be to remove the Z and use it like I described?
I have done some searching for a lathe slide retrofit. Used Hardinge
slides (narrow bed) are about 3000 bucks. Slides from people like
Omniturn and Upgrade Technologies are 7500 bucks and up! Ridiculous!