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"  (Photograph by J Muckle/Studio D)  If you&amp;#039;re a traditionalist in the kitchen, there&amp;#039;s a good chance you have a few cast-iron pots. They&amp;#039;re the heavy black ones that transmit heat so uniformly. Cast iron is an alloy (a hardened solution) of iron, carbon and silicon. In addition to providing good thermal conductivity, the material resists wear, can be precisely machined and is stable when heated, also making it great for an engine block or large-diameter pipes. It behaves very well under compression, but less so in tension, where steel (a different alloy) is far superior. You&amp;#039;ll also find cast iron in high-end woodworking machinery such as planers and jointers. In those applications, it&amp;#039;s machined to fine tolerances, and the material&amp;#039;s weight helps to reduce the machines&amp;#039; vibrations.  Expert Tip  Superhero Strength: Cast iron is like kryptonite for contractors, dulling or stopping most blades in their tracks. The Lenox Diamond Reciprocating Saw Blade (above, inset) is plated with nickel alloy that has industrial diamonds embedded in it. This allows the blade to cut through cast iron as if it were a piece of cake. After slicing a cast-iron pipe In our lab tests, the blade still had enough bite to split an old fashioned iron frying pan in half, lengthwise.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 HOME TIPS: All of PM&amp;#039;s Tool and Home Tips in One Place!  \u2022 PLUS: How to Choose the Best Countertop Material  \u2022 AS SEEN ON TV: PM&amp;#039;s Home Editors Tests Dozens of TV Products  \u2022 EDITOR&amp;#039;S CHOICE: Top 15 Tools from the 2009 Hardware Show  \u2022 FOLLOW US: Popular Mechanics is Now on Twitter!  \u2022 FRIEND US: Find PM on Facebook   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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