[metalmayhem]

Awerby take what I say for what it is worth to you and I mean no offense by that . Yes it is used for bushings but wear from much harder materials is mostly due to factors other than abrasion . Iron castings aren't much higher in rockwell than yellow brass when they are harder , and unlike brass their makeup varies as does their hardness . Aside from being littered with sand and who knows what these chinese casting are soft , and under a hardness test I wouldn't be surprised if they are softer than brass .

The way I look at it is that if the materials used for manual lathes and mills haven't changed in all these years then there is a solid reason for it

[Mecanix]

these chinese casting are soft , and under a hardness test I wouldn't be surprised if they are softer than brass .

I can carve my name on mine with my fingernail. Never tried (lol) but sure feels that way. Stupidly accurate over the whole bed though, aligned in all planes (5um), but that's the thing about it - if you want to preserve this fun you must babysit this tool like no other. So far added way-covers to keep it surgically clean, 4x oilers with an oil pump wetting (flushing?) this with ISO60 each and every 3000mm of travel, and now dealing with the "friction-vs-wear" gibs nightmare.

Got a few stocks of C63000 (Ni-Al-Bronze) on order as per Craig's recommendation. Should get me started.