ATM stainless steel

["J. v. Gastel" <m043653@home.vu.nl>]

Kriege/Berry's book advizes to use stailess steel to make a mirror cell.
Someone told me it's very hard to cut. So I thought of asking the
welding shop to cut it for me. But I also heard that this kind of steel
is very expensive: 50 times as expensive as the usual (mild?) steel. If
so, what will a mirror cell for a 20" cost? Is stainless steel really
that expensive? If I want to use another kind of metal, which is better:
aluminium or mild steel?

Jan.