Extrusion press and method of using

A method of extruding comprising:

• accessing an extrusion press including a compaction container defining a compaction compartment, wherein the extrusion press further includes a ram having a ram body configured for movement along a ram axis, the container having a first open end and a second open end at an opposite end of the container relative to the first open end, the extrusion press having a die with a die opening having a cross sectional area smaller than a cross sectional area of the compaction compartment in fluid communication with the compaction compartment;
• loading material into the compaction compartment;
• covering the first open end;
• while the first open end remains covered, rotating the compaction container from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation;
• at least partially moving the ram body into the compaction compartment to compress the material positioned therein without extruding the material while at least one of the die or the die opening is closed to prevent extrusion and allow compaction of the material;
• and
• further moving the ram body into the compaction container to thereby extrude material, out of the compaction container and through the die.

An extrusion press comprising:

• a ram having a ram body configured for movement along a ram axis;
• a compaction container defining a compaction compartment and having a compaction container axis, wherein the compaction container has a first open end and a second open end positioned opposite to the first open end, wherein the compaction container is rotatable between a first orientation wherein the compaction container axis is not aligned with the ram axis such that material can be loaded into the compaction compartment through the first open end and a second orientation wherein the compaction container axis is aligned with the ram axis such that the ram body is movable into the compaction compartment, wherein when the compaction container is in the first orientation the first open end is positioned above the second open end;
• and
• a lid coupled to the compaction container and configured to move to a closed position to cover the first open end while the compaction container moves from the first orientation to the second orientation, wherein the lid is configured such that when the lid is in the closed position the lid generally covers the first open end to retain material in the compaction container.