Lots of good ideas here I think.
I think that blades are really forgiving *you can do lots of stuff and itll probably work fine*
I've played only a little bit with royall fabrications and that stuff works great. (but it's hard to shut down by shorting that alternator in my experience and that's only based on 1 experience)
12 foot blades we've built in the past worked fine - perhaps not the most efficient but fine. (Tom... you get the award for first failure of that certain machine!)
Tod H from Bergey has suggested a bit of a compromise blade, easier to care and maybe more efficient.... I only watched it for a bit of time and have no data but it maybe good stuff, seems to work great. (seems, meaning..... no real data, only watching the machine and some intuition)
At any rate Tom, glad to try to help if you like.... mostly I'd just be a grunt in exchange for some good food and company and maybe I could bring some blades.