Metal powder extrusion process

Claim 1

The process for making consolidated billets from metal powder and the like comprising the steps of confining a metal powder in a ductile extrusion container defining a chamber including at least one core element extending rearwardly from the surface defining the forward end of said chamber for a portion of the length of said chamber and terminating at a point spaced from the surface defining the rearward end of said chamber such that the volume of that part of said chamber disposed rearwardly of the end of said core element comprises between about 30% and about 40 percent of the total volume of said chamber, said core element oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said chamber, heating said container and said powder therein to an elevated temperature, passing the heated said container longitudinally through a die of a reduced cross sectional area and extruding and elongating said container and said core and compacting said powder around the elongated said core into an elongated substantially dense coherent mass in which said mass and said core are substantially coextensive, removing said container from the periphery of said mass, and thereafter removing said core from said mass forming a billet having an elongated aperture therein.