Here is something you don't see any day: Forging die for Mauser M1914/34 frame
 

This 25-pound lump of solid history surfaced a while ago:

It is one of the dies that was used to strike the frame forging for the M1914/34 Mauser pocket pistols.

This part of the die was fastened to the hammer end of the forge press, a similar die was attached to the bottom end. A heated piece of solid gun steel was placed in the middle and pressed into the basic shape of the frame, which would then be sent to the factory from the forge for further milling and cutting.

Due to the stresses involved, these dies would last relatively shortly and were recycled when they were no longer accurate enough. This particular die survived, as it was taken by a Mauser worker to be used as a makeshift anvil in his home workshop.

The angle of the photograph distorts the image, but the shape of the die is basically a large T-shape with the bar of the T running along the width of the die. There are 2 mounting holes drilled, one on the left and one on the right side of the T-bar.


An old photo taken at the Mauser forge before WW2 actually shows the forge press and the shape of the die. Also note the attaching point, which corresponds with a pin hole in the actual die.

Fascinating! Where did this turn up?

In Oberndorf :)

Cool!

fascinating

Is it another "sewer line find", or was it stashed away somewhere else? That's one serious chunk of metal, nothing you would put under your arm and walk away with...

So that is how they made the frames. Fascinating.

The forging process leaves you with a roughly shaped chunk of metal.

Gerben's third picture gives you a good idea of the amount of metal removed in the milling and shaping reduction processes.

Forgings are quite strong, but end up wasting quite a bit of metal in the finishing processes. A later process makes blanks that are much closer in size and volume to the finished part. This is what Ruger does through a technology called "Investment Casting". In some ways, investment cast blanks are stronger and more uniform than forgings.

It's interesting to note that the US manufactured Walther PPK and PPK/S frames made by Ranger manufacturing in Alabama were actually produced from blanks made by Ruger's Pine Tree Castings subsidiary.

The most modern way of making precision parts is called Metal Injection Molding. This technology is similar to casting plastic parts, but starts with uniform powdered metal. This creates blanks that are very close to the final part dimensions and only require minimal machining and surface finishing. This technology creates the most uniform and strongest metal matrix.

It's quite unusual to see a forging die like Gerben's. This gives you an idea of the massive scale involved in production metalwork at the turn of the 20th century. This one is heavy and rather impressive!

Marc

Gerben


Thanks a lot for sharing with us!

Gerben,

This die is like a monster version of the dies for the Molloch 50 lb. "automatic hammer" at Durand's Forge, adjoining my workplace. Note that the upright part of the "T" shape visible in the side view has tapered sides. It is effectively a giant dovetail on each die, top and bottom. These slide into dovetail slots on the base of the machine and the moving "hammer", and are secured by pounding in a pair of long, matching-taper wedges. Presuming the sides of the dovetails and their slots are parallel, the wedges' tapers cancel each other to maintain parallel between the parts, and tighten the dies into the setup very effectively when driven in by striking their ends. The holes in the piece are probably for indexing the die on the machine, after which it would be secured by the wedges.

The advantage to hot forging--other than creating a shape that takes lots less machining to work into final shape--is that the grain of the steel remains uninterrupted and un-torn, which happens if the work-piece is bent cold, or cut by milling or cutting. The term "drop forge" has been mentioned. One of these works like an immense, heavy-duty guillotine. The top die rides to the top of the structure and is released either manually or automatically to fall upon the piece of red hot steel in the bottom die. Our hammer here is powered by a flywheel, with the energy controlled by a clutch between it and the hammer mechanism. With the clutch engaged, a heavy shaft rotates. The opposite end of the driven shaft contains the main flywheel, which has an off-center of attachment to the hammer, which when reciprocates vertically while the clutch is engaged. Ours turns a little fast, and is able to strike in excess of ten blows/second. Slipping the conical, leather-lined clutch allows for slower, more controllable action.