Hi Julian, I don't remember the thread but the important thing to remember is that most types (there are quite a lot!)tend to "work harden" very easily, i.e. if you centre punch to drill a hole , that small area around the pip can become so hard as to seriously dull, or even break a good drill bit!, it's better to touch your marked hole with a very small centre drill first and then go in with say a 2mm bit first, depending on the size of the required hole, say 6mm, go 2-4-6, go in steadily,not too slow, and don't peck, as this can have the same hardening effect, if you use intermediate sized bits too close ,say 0.5mm, the webs will tend to follow one side of the hole and you'll end up with an off centre hole!, even on the lathe.
I personally don't mind stainless, especially as I was given about 25lbs of it recently!, I know that a lot of people hate it, but I am by no means an expert and I'm sure others will be able to add to my observations....Giles