RonEgg
Buckeye
Metal Injected Moulding
WHAT DOES MIM MEAN ????
- Thread starter RonEgg
- Start date
Jimbo357mag
Hawkeye
A couple of short YouTube videos on MIM parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd_THZuFUgw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCfUd7ZEOjg
...Jimbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd_THZuFUgw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCfUd7ZEOjg
...Jimbo
J Miller
Blackhawk
MIM = Mediocre Industrial Methods
Hondo44
Hawkeye
Monetarily Inducing Mediocrity
powder smoke
Hawkeye
Lamplighter said:
Don't know about that but they are not US made any more! Brazil! Turn Coats! So I will never own one. Kimber is the way to go. IMO. ps
WESHOOT2
Hunter
MIM is everywhere.
Sugar River
Buckeye
Lamplighter said:
I'll bet it has MIM parts in it, if that's what you mean by shortcut.
Matter of fact, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a gun made today that doesn't contain some MIM parts.
ceci
Bearcat
Some very good explanations. Thanks. It used to confuse me.
TCGuy
Single-Sixer
It depends on the context. If this was a Fender Guitar forum, MIM would mean "Made in Mexico."
mohavesam
Hawkeye
MIM technology has been around awhile. Nothing new here. The deadbolts you trust to keep bag guys outside your home while your kids sleep contain MIM parts. So do many firearms.
When one finds one's self sitting around trying to out-think a degreed & experienced ordnance engineer, one has too much free time on one's hands!
When one finds one's self sitting around trying to out-think a degreed & experienced ordnance engineer, one has too much free time on one's hands!
Driftwood Johnson
Blackhawk
Howdy
Metal Injection Molding is not quite the same as Sintering. As one of the videos shows, with MIM the product starts as a paste consisting of metal particles suspended in a resin binder. Sintering is done with powdered metal, no binder. With MIM, conventional Injection Plastic molding equipment is used. The heated MIM paste is injected into the molds. The parts that drop out are considered 'green'. The parts are then baked to burn off the resin binder. The completed parts shrink significantly after they are baked.
Modern Solid CAD programs make easy work of this. The part designer already knows what percent the parts will shrink, so he designs his parts that much bigger. The same program can be used to create the molds, based on the shape of the part.
I used to work in the electronics industry and we were starting to use MIM parts for some of our needs. Much, much cheaper than machining.
I had a conversation with an engineer at S&W a few years ago. He told me the process they used to engineer some of their first MIM parts. He said he had gone through all the calculations and the strength of their MIM parts was plenty for what was needed. They are not making cylinders or barrels with MIM, just small parts.
Some of us just don't like MIM because it is not very traditional. Just like some of us think that handguns should be made from steel, not plastic.
Metal Injection Molding is not quite the same as Sintering. As one of the videos shows, with MIM the product starts as a paste consisting of metal particles suspended in a resin binder. Sintering is done with powdered metal, no binder. With MIM, conventional Injection Plastic molding equipment is used. The heated MIM paste is injected into the molds. The parts that drop out are considered 'green'. The parts are then baked to burn off the resin binder. The completed parts shrink significantly after they are baked.
Modern Solid CAD programs make easy work of this. The part designer already knows what percent the parts will shrink, so he designs his parts that much bigger. The same program can be used to create the molds, based on the shape of the part.
I used to work in the electronics industry and we were starting to use MIM parts for some of our needs. Much, much cheaper than machining.
I had a conversation with an engineer at S&W a few years ago. He told me the process they used to engineer some of their first MIM parts. He said he had gone through all the calculations and the strength of their MIM parts was plenty for what was needed. They are not making cylinders or barrels with MIM, just small parts.
Some of us just don't like MIM because it is not very traditional. Just like some of us think that handguns should be made from steel, not plastic.
Even MIM parts get sintered. Like has been said, the feedstock is a mixture of powdered metal and a resin binder. Parts are injected into molding machines and out come the "green" parts. Size of the green parts can be some 30% larger than the final part. The tricky part has always been to debind (a process to remove the resin binder) the parts just to the point that they can still hold the metal powder together which then go into the sinter stage. Sintering is done in a controlled process that depending on the metal alloy, can be in the neighborhood of 2050°F. This causes the metal particles to fuse together at the contact points. Density of MIM parts can be in the 98-99% solid compared to wrought metals. This is considerably higher than conventional powdered metal (PM) which is more commonly in the 85-90% solid range. The advantage of MIM is elimination of secondary machining operations, fine details and good mechanical properties.
I've designed many a part in both MIM & PM over the last 30+ years with materials and at loads that many a fully machined from barstock part would or did not do the job.
I've designed many a part in both MIM & PM over the last 30+ years with materials and at loads that many a fully machined from barstock part would or did not do the job.
Rabon
Single-Sixer
You would be betting wrong as the SA 1911 is loaded with MIM parts.Lamplighter said:
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