Balanced Crankshaft (Need Help !!!)
Yeah, first he says "you're all set" implying he spun it and it came out fine. Then he's saying "it's 'cause the book tells me it's all set". No good machinist trusts a book...lol. If you indeed have a '73 cast crank, and the correct matching balancer, when he spun it up, it would come up with a small imbalance because of the convertor weight. If he spun it with the counterweighted flexplate, he would say it's fine. If he said "the book says..." it leads me to believe he has not spun it yet. I would tell the guy to spin it, regardless of what the book says.
Also, what bore size was the block when he first measured it? Are you certain the engine has not been rebuilt previously? If it has, they may have balanced it to be neutral.