Steel forging or steel casting

[Hedd_Jones]

Steel castings were extensivley used in all sorts of things bob, from about 15 years before Stanley Edge put pen to paper.

[Chris KC]

There must have been many accidents. And fumes would take a toll. No safety glasses.
 

I recall being shown around Garringtons' forge as a trainee engineer; even in the 1980's I scarcely met anyone with a full complement of fingers...

[Colin Morgan]

Don't know which it is.
 
As it says on various sites, the advantage of a forging would be precision, consistency and strength - makes the best use of the properties of steel.  The advantage of casting would be rapid production of such a complex shape - though there would be drilling/machining required and possible problems with tolerances.  Also a casting would be more likely to contain significant defects that might cause failure in a part subject to multiple and diverse loading.  
 
From the picture, edges look rounded, the shape could be moulded, so it could be a casting?  If someone has one to hand - does close inspection give a clue?  Is there a surviving sharp mould line?

[Duncan Grimmond]

My guess would be forging/stamping finished hot in (a series of ?)press-tools to maintain accuracy and tensile strength.

[Paul N-M]

My guess would be forging/stamping finished hot in (a series of ?)press-tools to maintain accuracy and tensile strength.

Agree.

[Dave Mann]

Casting steel is not an easy process and wasn't mastered till the 1970s so I go for forging.

[Tony Press]

Casting steel is not an easy process and wasn't mastered till the 1970s so I go for forging.

The Austin Motor Company film shows the rear axle casings being cast from steel in the 30's.

[Steve Hainsworth]

I have just had a look t two chassis in good ,clean condition.
Close inspection would indicate a forging.
The tell -tale signs are :
1/ drawing marks in the vertical plane down the sides of the channels
2/ The product has been trimmed all the way around in a press die to remove the flash from forging operations
3/ part number is crisp  and proud of the undersurface which indicates high pressure applied.
Another reason for me would be the fact that the spring mount flange carries a cantilever load of some severity, and yet I have never seen one broken, even though NZ roads were a harsh test in the 1920s. Not something I would cast with my metallurgical knowledge.
That said I believe many other seven components were cast steel   - Some of them are:

1/ Steering boxes and side covers in the early thirties (not always though)
2/ Dynamo mount /fan mount castings- coil engine-I have two of these in steel
3/ Rear  Axle casing ends - these were originally brazed to the axle tubes but later (33 on -D type ) they were friction or resistance - Butt welded to the     axle tubes.
4/ 3 piece rear axle center casings (until the D axle arrived)
cheers Steve H

[Bob Culver]

It is not my territory but for smallish items of a shape able to be forged that process would reduce the energy for heating as well as giving superior structure. Quite a bit of work in assembling and dismantling a mould, whereas the forging is a quick stomp.

Confusion possibly arises with malleable cast iron; I am not sure when that became common. I presumed integral drum/hubs, and diff bodies of 1950s cars are of this. Judging from ones I have dropped, ordinary cast iron drums are not malleable. Pesume malleable iron cannot be welded without complications.

[Colin Morgan]

Accepting that the nosepiece is generally a forging, then, I wonder if it started off as a casting on the very early cars ('22/'23)?  This might account for it being described as a casting in a few references?

Colin