Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeK
Hate to be the naysayer, but NO. Price is not the concern, reliability is. OK, so it's new and you reset the cycles-to-failure clock, but it is still stamped steel flat stock and will fail from cyclic work hardening.
Now, if it was a vacuum investment cast nickel-titanium alloy single piece with controlled grain structure, like jet engine turbine blades are made, I'd pay $1,000 for one in a heartbeat. If made this way, every detail, including seam weld and spot weld marks could be reproduced exactly. It would be a perfect visual (J.S.) match, pass the magnet test, be 10x as strong, and likely have a M.T.B.F. of 100,000 hrs @ 10,000 rpm. As a plus, on addition to dynamic ballancing, the air thrust balance between the two blades could be near perfect.
Vacuum Investment Casting Overview Link Here: http://www.consarc.com/pages/vpic.html |
Well, in all true honestly, I ain't a metalurgist
nor do I profess to know anything regarding what you say about the
cyclic work hardening 
so I will yield to your knowledge in that regard, however one or two thoughts do come to mind.
Since we mentioned mufflers earlier in this thread, we'll bring that analogy up again. We can buy the cheapie muffler for less than a $100, --or we can buy a steel Aries for about double the price of the cheapie. One could make an argument that both are made of steel and are 'expendible items' so why bother with paying twice as much for the Aries?
To me, the same mindset could be applied to discussions about shocks, or tires, or piston rings, or patch panels, ...or many other things. I guess it really boils down to perceived value.
I realize that $200-$300 for a fan seems like a lot of money, but in today's society of manufacturing, I don't think less than $100 will be enough to cover Design, Tooling, R&D, and all the R.O.I. Would you not agree that probably 1000 units is a realistic market for these for the life of the tooling?
Jim may have an excellent point that the aluminum unit is the best alternative in fine-point & touring class where the owner would understand going in there will be a point deduction but that the alloy fan is allowed.
.