cast steel

— CAST STEEL / A search for metals of lighter, and more durable qualities than iron led to a new process in producing steel. In 1740 Benjamin Huntsman, a watchmaker, searching for a lighter, and less brittle metal than the old blister steel, hit upon melting steel in a crucible, or in a pot, lined with clay and graphite. The crucible could withstand the high temperatures necessary to melt metals in a container. To the product of the crucible was given the name "cast steel." [because it was poured (cast) from a melted state, unlike blister steel] / A DISTINCTION OF TERMS / Readers are cautioned at this point to understand that the terms "cast steel" and "steel castings" are not interchangeable, and, in fact, bear very little relationship to each other. It is true that steel castings must be made of "cast steel," but not all "cast steel" goes into the manufacture of steel castings. "Cast steel" merely describes the mass of metal which, after being melted, is poured into a mold of one sort or another, whether steel ingot molds or castings. Steel castings are objects which are given their final form in sand-filled molds. "Cast steel" may be poured into molds to form steel castings but it may also find its way, eventually, into structural steel, rolled steel or forgings; steel castings are the products of the steel foundry.