Quote: by the time you get it balanced and finished you will have spent enough for a forged crank..
EXACTLY........
Few years back i broke a cast 4 inch stroker crank. I had upgraded my combo from high 10's to 10.30's and it broke after about 50 passes, and ruined the rest of my season. I learned the hard way to do it right the first time.
Like i love saying, spend the extra 500 bucks and get the good piece the first time. In the whole scheme of building a motor, 500 bucks is just a small fraction of the total build, so why scrimp, just wait till you can do it right, then you wont ever have to wonder