Continuous extrusion of metals

Claim 1

A process for continuous friction-effected extrusion of rod feedstock in which rod feedstock is gripped in a channel formed between one moving surface defined by the walls of a groove in a rotatable wheel and a stationary shoe closing part of the circumference of the groove and having a stop at the end towards which the moving surface travels, to advance the feedstock towards the stop and so develop a pressure in the feedstock greater than the yield strength of the material from which it is made so that it upsets against the stop and flows out through a die forming an orifice that extends through the stationary shoe at the closed end of the channel, and in which lubricant is applied selectively to a side of the feedstock that will contact the stationary shoe by supporting a stick of the lubricant in a cylinder having an open end facing the said side of the feedstock that will contact the shoe, in which cylinder the stick is a loose fit and introducing compressed gas into the cylinder to apply a substantially constant biasing force urging the stick into engagement with the said side and at the same time to cool the stick of lubricant to inhibit melting.