Hi Daryl,
yep, I'd be interested if you get to the point of developing a pattern. so the big question is cost? given a choice, I think my first preference would be cast iron. FYI, ive had very good response from Cattails foundry in Pennysvania. They are very, very reasonably priced and do careful, indeed exceptional work. The people who own and operate the foundry are second or third generation Amish, and have a reputation for taking particular care of all the work they turn out. The only cravet - they are in high demand and work traditionally with a 100year old foundry. They very often have a big time lag to produce the castings. Months and months. Aside from this, their verbal commitments and quality are golden.
I've always heard about the only way to guarantee alignment is to bore and finish the spindle on the actual machine the overarm support will work on. I don't think I care one way or the other about the internal oiling well. More modern sealed bearings sounds like a good way to go.
I bought a nice Crystal Lake cylindrical grinder last year and rebuilt it for precision grinding things like VN collets- although haven't done so as of yet. To many projects, not enuf time. Maybe I will experiment a bit latter this summer, when I start getting deeper into my VN 12 rehab.
Let's stay in touch, as your pattern making starts to take shape.
Cheers,
Glenn