Camshafts almost done

[Locobob]

Originally Posted by tpepmeie

I don't understand the hard feelings on this topic. Individuals can make a choice whether to pursue custom cams, some may decide it's cost prohibitive. Others don't.

My cams cost over $4000. most of that cost is in the machining of the blanks. It is not an insignificant machining process to go from a bar of tool steel to a finished product. Of that cost, the profile design work was about $400, and the final machining was about $800. The rest was making drawings (reverse engineering from OE shafts), the raw billet, and machining the blanks. I don't feel like I paid too much.

Of course, cast iron cores, produced in large quantities would dramatically lower the acquisition cost. But until somebody steps up with the non-recurring cost to cast blanks that's not an option. Off the shelf, generic profiles would eliminate the profile design fees, but might not be optimal for a given combo.

Horses for courses. These aren't Ecotecs, SBC's, or Modular Motors we're modifying....

I think it's more frustration than hard feelings. From what I've heard the existing cam blanks are being tightly controlled and carry a stiff price. I don't know how many exist, some say just a few, others maintain its a bunch. If the latter is true then I think the selling strategy is out of touch with current reality.
Custom, one off billet cams are going to be pricey by nature and I'm not criticizing the cost of such endeavors. I, and others I'm sure were hoping your project might bear some fruit as a new source of cams. Sadly it looks like this will be unlikely to happen.
My thought is that billet is the most logical approach for new cams as I doubt anyone will cough up the investment necessary to have a new run of blanks made up. If we could get a cam maker set up with the basic design dialed in then I think the best approach would be for those with knowledge to collaborate and come up with 2 or 3 profiles to make. If folks pool resources I think this could happen and the price point could move down enough to make it worthwhile.