[TheForge] To ring or not to ring[was anvil i d]

[Bruce Freeman]

Mikey,
I believe that refers to the casting process.  IIRC (from
book-larnin'), a heavy metal plate would be used as the "face" part of
the casting mold.  When the molten iron was poured into the mold, it
would not adhere to this plate, but would be cooled faster by it than it
would be by casting sand.  This changes the metal in desirable ways -
but I'm no metalurgist, so I won't try to explain why.
Bruce
NJ

>>> michael.a.porter at comcast.net 4/27/2006 4:00:33 AM >>>
Cast iron can be very hard, but I don't understand the term "chilled
face."
Could you please explain it?
Mikey