[Brian Baker]

Moldex = billet.

Opinions vary, but for all intents and purposes, a forged crank will be just as strong as a billet...and in some instances stronger. With a billet, the grain runs in one direction, and when it is cut, it is done so to minimize weaknesses in certain areas of the crank in relation to the grain flow.

With forgings, the grain does not flow in the same direction.

Think of a wooden baseball bat. We were alway taught to swing it with the label either facing up or down, that way the lines of the woodgrain would run in the same plane as the ball when making contact. Try to hit the ball with the label facing the pitcher as you swing, and you run the risk of cracking the bat, because the ball is contacting it in a 90-degree plane (or perpendicular) to the plane of the woodgrain.

Now compare this with a blow on the rod journal from the piston/rod. It's better to have that grain in the rod fillet and throw area perpendicular to the blow. With a forging, the grain will follow the shape of the forging, whereas with a billet, it runs all in one direction when the ingot or "blank" is made (which is then whittled into a crank). I'm not a metalurgist, and the examples I'm using are greatly simplified, but I think you can still get the gist of it. Others like Tom Vaught could explain it in greater detail.