Sturdiness: The thickness of the lip of the mortar, and presumably the rest of the mortar, is about 1.5 mm (0.058"). This thickness should be plenty to support grinding the pestle firmly against the mortar. Even pounding the pestle against the bottom of the mortar should be possible, within reason. (Grinding and crushing with twisting, rocking, and sliding motions are more controlled than pounding.)Construction and cleaning: The handle of the pestle is hollow and light, while the broad end of the pestle is heavy and apparently solid. This weight distribution allows the pestle to stand in the mortar without falling out. At the joint between the handle and the broad end of the pestle, I do not see crevices that could prevent thorough washing. Similarly, I do not see crevices between the base and bowl of the mortar, when viewed from below. However, there is a narrow, shallow crevice between the base and bowl of the mortar when viewed from the side, that would not allow a sponge or dish cloth to get in far enough to dislodge any bit of food that might get deep into the crevice. Cleaning of this crevice must rely only on water, detergent, and water motion. My solution is to keep the mortar from getting really dirty in the first place, and to finish (hand) washing the mortar with it mostly upright.Because the handle of the pestle is light, it is easy to forget that the broad end is heavy. If you want to eat the remainder of food directly off the pestle, avoid banging it against your teeth.I don't want a stone mortar because I want to wash the mortar thoroughly before every use, and I don't want to chew on any stone dust.Materials: The mortar is attracted slightly by a magnet. I assume that the mortar is made of stainless steel. The pestle is attracted very little by a magnet. The broad end of the pestle probably is made of stainless steel, although it could be made of plated zinc. After cleaning the mortar and pestle, I rubbed them hard on paper. No dark marks resulted on the paper; if my crude test is valid, the metal contains no perceptible lead. (I am not suggesting that my crude test would work for ceramics.)Crushing: The bottom of the large end of the pestle is relatively flat and smooth. (The bottom of the pestle has a larger radius than the mortar.) The inner surface of the bowl appears to have been spin-turned or abraded by a wire brush. When I rub my finger across the bottom of the bowl, I can feel the slight marks. The marks are not uniform everywhere. The marks and the relatively flat area on the bottom of the pestle may be adequate to allow crushing of really hard items, such as some pills, without making them try to fly out of the bowl.Foot and pad: The rubber foot is thinner than I expected, and putting it back on after washing the bowl takes me several seconds. Instead, I leave the rubber foot off and put the mortar on a silicone rubber pad to avoid noise and protect my counter.Conclusions: I am satisfied with this mortar and pestle. I am pleased by the apparent sturdiness of the mortar. I hope that the broad end of the pestle is solid stainless steel. The washability of the mortar is not perfect, given the crevice around the base, but the washability probably is good enough.