Originally Posted by
Grand Bois
All Nitto stems are forged and forgings are much stronger than castings. The better Nitto stems are cold forged, which makes them stronger yet, because the grain follows the shape of the stem.
Thanks GB, cold forged makes much more sense. I really had not thought you could forge aluminum, hot or cold. I should read up on that......
But like [MENTION=107705]Thumpic[/MENTION], I took "ding" to be impact damage and 'width of a dime' to be ~1/2 inch. A gouge the thickness of a dime (2-3mm) is different. I musta read it wrong. Awaiting the photos.