I was just looking at how they make MIM parts and find that it seems to be almost exactly the same process they use to make carbide parts. This interests me as I work in a carbide shop as a surface grinder, grinding the super soft parts before they are sintered. It seems alot of people dislike MIM parts because they can suddenly fail without warning. From personal experience if the quality control is not tight I can see how this can happen because some of the parts we make get cracks in them that have to be seen with help of a microscope. If these parts were to slip by and be used in impact situations I could see them suddenly breaking without warning. I do not think that MIM parts in my gun would bother me because the chance of a defective part getting made and making it through all the steps without getting caught seems very low. It is interesting because the parts after being pressed are softer than chalk (takes about a month to learn to handle them witout breaking them alot) and after being sintered is extreamly hard. It is a pretty cool process watching it from start to finish.
MIM part and Tungsten carbide
- Thread starter mo84
- Start date
very cool info. There is a general mistrust for anything new, in someways rightfully so as new to some extent means less tested, however with today's technology it could mean as good and more affordable. Your right what it comes down to is the company making them and there quality control and engineering prowess.
sintering is a wonderful process. For example, every ceramic product from knives to bearings is a sintered product.
Sintering is not a good way to make high stress products. they may be brittle, there may be flaws, there may be contaminants, and simply put, machined steel is far more durable than sintered materials.
sintering is cheap compared to casting. it is quality manufacturing at its best, but it is not a substitute for machining
Sintering is not a good way to make high stress products. they may be brittle, there may be flaws, there may be contaminants, and simply put, machined steel is far more durable than sintered materials.
sintering is cheap compared to casting. it is quality manufacturing at its best, but it is not a substitute for machining
Aguila Blanca
Staff
I had a MIM thumb safety once for a 1911 that wouldn't work. Inspection showed that the pin portion (the part that goes into the frame and engages the grip safety) wasn't perfectly square to the pad (the portion that lies outside the frame). So I inserted it through the frame holes of a stripped frame and tapped the pad with a nylon hammer, thinking to straighten out the pin and make the part usable.
SNAP!
The metal was very strong, but not at all flexible/malleable. If it had been a machined part, I could have straightened it. But, as noted above, MIM parts are brittle.
SNAP!
The metal was very strong, but not at all flexible/malleable. If it had been a machined part, I could have straightened it. But, as noted above, MIM parts are brittle.
buck460XVR
New member
MIM parts are just a conspiracy by antis to render our guns useless. I read it on the internet so it must be true. MIM parts are designed so that a specific sound frequency will turn them to dust, so once all guns have a least one important MIM part in it, the antis will broadcast this frequency on civil defense sirens and there you have it....a gunless America. 
Conspiracy ? It's the cheap gunowners who want the lowest cost guns possible !
Carbides are made like the older Powdered Metal parts The PM parts range from about 60% density of wrought material to 99% .In applications from filters to high stressed parts .Remington's PM business going from 40+ years now also makes MIM parts .They made 99% type which required double compressing and double sintering which gives close to wrought properties.
MIM uses metal powder with a wax [polymer] , injection molded , wax heated to remove then sintered. Much of the problems were due to learning a new technology and finding the suitable applications for it.
The MIM parts can be heat treated, carburized etc just like wrought -- lots of variables !!
Carbides are made like the older Powdered Metal parts The PM parts range from about 60% density of wrought material to 99% .In applications from filters to high stressed parts .Remington's PM business going from 40+ years now also makes MIM parts .They made 99% type which required double compressing and double sintering which gives close to wrought properties.
MIM uses metal powder with a wax [polymer] , injection molded , wax heated to remove then sintered. Much of the problems were due to learning a new technology and finding the suitable applications for it.
The MIM parts can be heat treated, carburized etc just like wrought -- lots of variables !!
buck460XVR
New member
Mete.....it was a joke. Also a experiment, as in how many folks since they saw it on the internet believe it is true. Apparently at least one. Can't wait to see this new conspiracy theory spread across the multitude of gun forums.
I think the wax is the worse part of this process because it always clogs my grinding wheel up
having to take it off, wire brush it and re zero it. I like the consipracy theory, it all makes sense now lol I did hear the gun oil will protect the guns from this frequincy so we should be alright hahah. I can see how making the MIM parts could be cheeper and faster than machining but like stated above, they will not bend. its almost like it turns the metal into somthing else.
having to take it off, wire brush it and re zero it. I like the consipracy theory, it all makes sense now lol I did hear the gun oil will protect the guns from this frequincy so we should be alright hahah. I can see how making the MIM parts could be cheeper and faster than machining but like stated above, they will not bend. its almost like it turns the metal into somthing else.