Well, BDMS is not the nicest material to work with, nevertheless its mechanical strenght and some other properties are superior to F/C steel.

Screws made of BDMS, if there is a need to tighten them hard, are far more resilient than those made of F/C steel.

It can also be carburized and then hardened and of course it is very abundant and cheap.

However it can be quite a pig to turn. Perhaps one of the most difficult common materials to work with if good surface finish is required without grinding at least in my experience.

Any tricks to address this sad state of affairs?

Thanks for comments.

Data from another thread linked by Andrew is interesting but unfortunately speeds suggested there are of no use for me, as I rarely use carbide inserts.

My ML7 does not run fast enough, hence no virtues of use of carbide inserts can be exploited.

Occasionally, when these *are* used there is no difference, albeit inserts in my posession are not of finishing grade. My BDMS is a continental equivalent of En3b (low sulfur mild steel with 0.3% C and below 0.5% Mn).

My personal findings are that the best finish is achieved with hardened high carbon steel. It get better polish than HSS. Nevertheless it is still not as good as on brass, aluminium or stainless of many grades.