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.

I'm working on the same project.

Where are you located? When I can't find a local supplier, I've
used www.onlinemetals.com. They are often the same price as the
local supplier (and way cheaper than the Home Depot type stores).

Also, I recently took a local welding class and got a lot of good
information from the teacher as to were the best distributors are
located. Any chance you know anyone in the trades you can ask?

Regards,
Al