Originally Posted by Charles Wahl

Something to keep in mind, regarding this "British works OK in Swiss-threaded" thing, is that British-thread cups will be slightly undersized (both 1.370 and 1.375 are under 35 mm), and the pitch is different of course: 24 TPI for British and 25.4 TPI (1 mm) for Swiss. That means in 8 threads, you'll be "off" by about half a thread. To me that doesn't seem like a good approach, but YMMV as always.

There are alloy Swiss cups available now for IRD (JIS taper, symmetrical spindle) cartridge bearing bottom bracket units. A much less expensive alternative to Phil Wood.