On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 11:13:40 -0500, "mongke"
wrote:

===Hi all,
===
===I'm having difficulty getting cold rolled steel for the ways. Someone told
===me stainless steel plate is as flat as cold rolled. It this true?
===Another suggestion I got was to get a slab of 1" thick of hot rolled and
===have it milled on both sides down to 1/2" or so.
===At one place I can get a plate of 24"x2.5"x1/4", which would be 1/2" less
===than Gingery specifies. Would that affect the capabilites of the lathe?
===And how to tell it's actually CR? Any other material suitable for ways?
===
===Any advice thanked in advance.
===
===Regards,
===
===Mongke


I agree with what Ed says. Call up McMAster Carr or visit them online
and order what you want. They have it i lengths of 2, 3 6 and 10 foot,
and its reasonably priced for the most part as comared to online
metals websites, that charge by the inch.

CRS is not hard to get in some sizes locally, as its just stocked
according to demand. Rounds are easy but some flat stock is rarely
used enough to warrant stocking locally.

I would not go any narrow on the bed ways than 3" as the Gingery lathe
and his other machine tools can use all the width and rigidity that
can be built into them. I would go wider before I went narrow. If you
was to get a piece of HRS and have it milled you'll be paying a heap
of money for machine time to get it to the size you need as well, and
you still won't have anything as good as CRS will be.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Part Number for CRS (1018 alloy, low carbon) in .250" x 3.0" x 36"
size on McMaster-Carr site:
8910K573 cost $22.12 + shipping which would probably be about 6 or 7
bucks. I paid over $35.00 plus tax locally for a 30" pice of this
stuff.

Online metals wants close to $50 for a 24" piece.
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