Originally Posted by
BikeWise1
Well......my hide, as well as my peace of mind is worth more to me than a few hundred bucks.
Absolutely, and that's entirely your decision.
But the OP asked for opinions, and not seeing the fork, I tried to give him factors that he could consider so he could make a judgment call for himself.
Mechanical strengh isn't black and white. What's fine for one rider, might be borderline for another, and totally unsafe for a third. This is true of every aspect of bike construction regardless of material, and is especially true of high performance bikes where assumptions were made about rider weight, strength, and riding style, then all excess weight and strength were carefully stripped away leaving little margin for riders beyond the design parameters.
I work in a town with lots of bridges and overpasses, many of these are rated for cars and light trucks only, others have higher weight limits. All are safe except in the event of an over-limit truck.
Likewise with the fork. Any loss of strength by virtue of the starnut damage, might not be an issue for most riders, but can be the straw that breaks the camel's back if highly stressed.