Tour of Sinterform

Sinterform is an interesting process had an interesting process of turning powdered metal into parts. The powder was imported from over seas or Canada in 5000 lb. cases. The material is a very fine powder of a certain steel. Other types of steels or grades of steels are made in house. The imported steel powder is mixed with certain other powders and the result is qualified in the test lab. This powder is than ready to be pressed in a die. This was interesting to see, because I had other ideas on how this step of the process was done. Basically a container of powdered metal was shaken over a die and drawn back to create an even distribution over the die. This prevents the part from having an uneven density distribution. The dies are then brought together with as much as 100 tons of pressure. I was surprised to see how fast these parts were made. Once the parts were formed they were sent to the heat ovens. Here the part could also attain a different composition. Brass pellets were put on the part as it entered the oven. These parts were also of a certain recipe of powder and pressed into a specific shape. The brass melts faster than the part and fills any molecular gaps in the part, thus creating a greater density. Due to spring back from the dies and the sintering process, the parts are repressed to attain the correct dimensions. The parts may also be heat treated in house. One other process was the magnetic flux that also increased the density of the parts and strengthened the part by filling the cracks.