"bildan" wrote in message
...

So, how many actual dollars does the price difference between billet
and ingot represent as a percentage of the overall cost of an
airplane...after you sell the chips as scrap.
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That's obviously a very difficult question, that will vary based on design,
size and number of the parts in the aircraft. But it is safe to say that,
after you incur the cost of both the billet and the machining, the scrap
value of the chips are never much of a saviour.




Presumably you are looking at at least 4 heads which fits well with
CNC. CNC milled heads made from billet will be exactly alike, which
is more than can be said for castings.
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You will get little argument from me on that one. CNC machined billet parts
hard to beat, especially when you need the strength. But when the strength
is not required, a casting can save tons of money.