I've used a White Mountain for all of my adult life. No appreciable rust or wear on the machine in all this time/use. The ice cream can is pristine. Evidence of scraping (ice and salt abrasion) on the inside of the tub is all that shows the machine has been used. This machine is capable of producing superb ice cream without too much fuss. You do have to be reasonably accurate with the rock salt (too much creates ice in the ice cream, not enough and the custard doesn't freeze). The salt is the what makes it cold, more salt makes it colder. That is the only knack I've had to learn to produce top notch ice cream. I love the old fashioned look and construction. Very solid machine, I haven't been able to wear out the hand crank 4 qt. machine raising 3 kids through college. Now, I've cranked enough and treated myself to the electric model. Saved the hand crank for camping trips. The instructions will tell you to rinse the whole thing off with warm water right away when you are through. I always have, religiously. I have talked to people that didn't, and like the instructions indicate, the next time they took it out it's a heap of rust. Funny how most of those people blamed the machine for the rust. If you are not willing to rinse, you will be better served by one of the all plastic machines.