RE: A general run-in question
Dar Zeelon:
Yes, the computer controlled machines are faster in production, BUT their tooling breaks/wears down just like any metal-working machine's does. Don't think you'll NEVER get a bad part out of a CNC. I've seen entire lots of parts from CNC's come back from a buyer, rejected because 1 or 2 parts which happened to be inspected by them as a %age of a batch were out of tolerance. In an imperfect world, etc. etc. Don't get me wrong, I've set up/programmed/run CNC also and they're remarkable in what they can do, but there's occasionally a "joker in the deck". You also need to fit mating parts the tedious way sometimes, because they STILL haven't found a way to work out the math/accuracy so "every one" will mate with "every one".
All that aside tho, CNC can produce precision parts cheaper as they need no breaks, health insurance, have no family problems, etc., so we wind up with a less expensive engine of fine quality. I still maintain however, they're not a magic bullet.
By the way Dar Zeelon, thanks for your input.