Abstract: To take advantage of the fact that molten metal which first solidifies against a mold surface has better grain structure and closer chemical identity to the molten metal than the inner portions of a casting, a skin or thin layer of metal forming on a cold surface, such as a revolving water-cooled roll partly immersed in molten metal, is continuously stripped from said surface and almost immediately welded or fused under pressure to the surface of similarly-formed layers to make a unitary finished or semi-finished product. The layers so welded together may be separately formed, or comprise parts of a single layer folded or bent into surface-to-surface contact.