Here's a better one.
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/0 ... index.html
It's still a magazine article though but got better references, not just some journo who likes to use big words to confuse everyone,
Forged cranks don't have parting lines nor do they have numbers and letters cast into them. Any numbers or letters are either pressed in or engraved.(TRD)
The narrow/wide parting line is the difference between a cast iron and cast steel crank.
Nor can you tell between cast and forged with the "ring" test, that's how you tell a cracked crank (just as a cracked bell won't ring).
Unfortunately the internet seems to consist of the bullshitters bullshitting the other bullshitters with everyone claiming to be some sort of expert after 2 minutes on google despite having little or no practical experience. There's more misinformation than fact, especially with US based sites.
Steve