All the cam companies have lower priced cams and then they have cam that cost $50 or more than the cheaper ones. To keep it simple, what causes the price differences in hydraulics?

Making a lot at one time, vs making them one at a time.
There's no choice when you make a lot at one time, you have to take what and how it is made. Without the constant set-up, etc, prices can drop. At UltraDyne I tried to make my popular pieces 10 to 25 at a time, to lower costs.
Some companies use mass-production equipment to make 250 to 500 at a time.
VooDoos are made in 10 to 50 piece lots....

UDHarold

So its the amount of cams and not core price/quality and machining difficulty. I never thought of it that way.

There is also R&D.... when cam companies such as Lunati/Holley hire people such as Harold, instead of merely continuing to copy the same grinds they (and others have been running for 30-40 years like *cough* Edlebrock for example), they have to pay for his salary and dyno time somehow. They do this, by charging the people who get the improved product that makes people win races, a portion of what it costs to develop it. Those that just want the cheapest thing that's long and skinny and has lots of lumps on it that they can get, and are content to lose races, don't have to pay the premium. And of course, those who buy one of those "better" cams will go faster than ill-informed people, who pay a premium for a brand-name cam (like Edelbrock as an example), and get old junk anyway.

Kind of like, why does a copy of AutoCAD on CD cost $2000? A CD is less than $1. What's up with that? The answer is another question: ever use a $1 CAD program next to AutoCAD?

Ahhh ADSK, nice stock! Great execution. Recent retracement of a large gain providing a good in price..downside risk to 27.50, stop losses in at 26.30. Whoops sorry......

VooDoos are made in 10 to 50 piece lots....
I bet that would change rapidly if the VooDoo line becomes the hot cam,,,then would quality drop???

RapidRobert,

Factory cams are made in very large lots. Many Crane and Comp Cams, such as the High Energy/Xtreme Energy lines, are made in 250-500 piece lots.
The cores are the same, whether made one at a time, or 500 at a time.
The VooDoos are ground on Landis CNC cam grinders, supposedly the quality cam-grinder, without physical masters---all computerized.
Special one-off cams will be ground on Peterson-Bercos, like the ones UltraDyne used for 23 years.
My shop supervisor is now Lunati's cam shop supervisor. I do not expect ANY loss of quality in cam grinding.

UDHarold

Landis CNC cam grinders, supposedly the quality cam-grinder, without physical masters---all computerized.Is this commonplace these days, or do most companies still use equipment that follows master lobes?

About 90% or more of the custom cam grinds are made on manual cam grinders, like the Peterson-Berco. With good operators, the Peterson-Berco will make as accurate a cam as you can buy. More accuracy adds another 0 to the price.....

UDHarold