good solid tripod heads

hey guys had a question for you all. I as a marine shooter have always used a solid tripod to shoot from. I selected a Manfrotto with the small swivel mount and had a a home made head from a 3.5" length of PVC pipe cut lengthwise. padded it with isomat and called it a day. This does work but not as strong and as solid as I would like. So at my folks metal shop I pressed some out of aluminum and pressed in stainless PEM nuts to provide the threads. still padded with that closed cell iso foam.

But i have come to realize i could sell these for less than fifty bucks, it looks like most tripod heads are more than $100 and up to $300! some are almost a pound which blows my mind! I have seen a few out of carbon fiber a lot of steel and most guys just glue in a T-nut and call it a day. seems like thats a little crazy

so here it is anyone have any sources for well priced tripod heads that are strong and light? I think maybe this part of the market is not played out quite yet.

They are not cheap, but are the best ball heads you can buy. I use a lot of his stuff for photography.
http://reallyrightstuff.com/ballheads/02.html

I have a Manfrotto/Bogen 3205G, (Green) with a Manfrotto 3030 head and one shoe I need to sell, since I’m not into it anymore.