ABSTRACT
Steel can be either forged or cast and may be run directly into moulds from the furnace in which it is prepared, there is little to say about the latter process. The fact that steel can be both cast and forged has brought together two groups of operations which were formerly quite separate: the foundry and forge. Much of the progress in the latter half of the nineteenth century consisted of improvements in smelting and refining which eliminated sulphur and phosphorus. Since steel can be either forged or cast and may be run directly into moulds from the furnace in which it is prepared, there is little to say about the latter process. The modern forge that has grown out of the mediaeval smithy is a huge structure that hums with machinery and reverberates with the thud of steam-hammers. The invention of high-speed tool steel has made machining a cheaper process than accurate forging, and has considerably modified forge practice.
