Originally Posted by
Wullie
Well, sort of. Without picking the fly poop out of the pepper, metal molding is done with molten metal which is poured into a mold.
Closed die forging is just that. The metal is heated to a plastic state and then hammered/pressed to the shape of the die. It is "molded" by the dies, but the process is not known as molding.
Great sport eh?
The edge you spoke of is known as flashing. That term applies to both molding and forging. It is very noticeable on rough blank and does look like a seam from a mold. The flashing is usually removed in either a trim die or by grinding.
A poured blank would not have as much strength as a forged blank. Forging compresses the steel and shrinks the molecules to make a blank tougher.
Having been around the closed die forging industry, I would imagine that those blanks were punched from plate and then forged.
Hope this helps.