I bought some ground, oil hardening, flat stock to help on aligning 3 doublelock vises on my VMC's, it comes 3' long and reasonably priced I thought.
https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn...tock?searchterm=ground+stock&navid=4287924320
Moses Glick and several others now and then have odd lots salvaged from the toolrooms of shuttered biznesses, too. Starrett, Timken, and other "usual suspects". Some still pristine in wrappers. Some with a rust-rash. Still damned good steel, so... stash some.
"Back in the day" Timken WAS our "go to". Disston. "the saw people".. . diverted to fine steel and NOT saws, War Two.... by the government ... they were that good, was another.
Essentially ALL of our incoming made a FINE set of parallels, nought but power hack saw and de-burr. Full stop. Buy the best? Precision in the preparation comes along with it.
SHAPER? Get real! Decent
horizontal mill beats it.
A shaper ain't
never going to be a PLANER! Not at two FEET of ram travel it ain't! Always have to deal with ram overhang, leverage, flex, and ..gravity.
And "gravity" is about as persistent a f**ker as ever held boot, paw, or motorsickle tire to the ground!
Same tooling? Can be, surely.
Whole different
concept of what qualifies to be classed as a "plane" surface, though. Same as a bedway grinder vs an ignorant radial-arm De-Walt with a grit blade!
Next thing you know? You are into "hand scraping" and settin'-up to die of old age and grumpiness of the ass muscles. Wherever they reside.
Ground die steel exists. Grind shops exist.
Run what THEY got!