Tim Williams wrote:

[snip some nswers, thanks]

I have a zillion more questions, but that's enough for one post.

I'm waiting for you to ask me how to melt and pour the 20 pound bed casting
you'll need. ;-)

I've got a suitable length of meehanite (a fine grained cast iron, I don't
know if it's sold outside the UK under that name), and I'll machine the
bed/ways from solid. Same with the head and tailstocks. With a wee bit of
geometry I can arrange things so the left over bits are the right size for
the saddle and cross slide too.

All from billet, as they say


--
Peter Fairbrother