At 12:58 PM -0700 7/16/07, Kurt Sperry wrote:
>I think Sugino is probably too invested in the forged blank production
>methodology that makes it cost prohibitive to make small batches on spec. I
>think they'd have to invest in super expensive dies, so they'd need to
>pre-sell a ton of them for the project to be economically viable. The
>CAD/CAM route means small batches can be relatively easily done without the
>per-unit cost being astronomical.
Many early mountain bike cranks were CAD/CAM machined. They all broke. The few companies that remain in business either have their cranks forged or make super-sturdy pieces with so much material that failure is unlikely.
Considering that Herse parts were optimized for light weight - from what I remember, an (on-topic) Herse crank weighs less than a (off-topic) Campy Record carbon - I don't think you can machine from billet without beefing up the part in a way that makes it a caricature of the original.
Jan Heine
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