Plastic blades. Have put up dozens of fans over the years, this by far had the most complex and tedious time consuming install. The blades aren't standard mount style they have to be installed in sequence, form over function I'm guessing.  The speed is 66 RPM at "EXTREME HIGH SPEED" you really don't notice any air moving from it, I ended up returning the fan and purchased TWO locally that put out 2,000 more CFM's at 110RPM (72" fans) for the price of this one.