Manual die set for pressing explosive powder into hollow cylindrical pellets

A manual die set for pressing a material to form a hollow, cylindrical pellet, comprising:

• a ram, the ram defining a bore therethrough;
• a die, the die defining a bore therethrough for reciprocably receiving the ram;
• a baseplate having an upper portion and a lower portion and defining a bore therethrough, the upper portion of the baseplate being disposed in a bottom of the die bore, the lower portion of the baseplate supporting the die;
• a knockout ring for supporting the die;
• a supporting block, removeable substantially horizontally, disposed in an interior of the knockout ring, for supporting the baseplate when the manual die set is in a pressing configuration, the supporting block defining a bore therethrough;
• and
• a mandrel, the mandrel being disposed in the ram bore, the baseplate bore and the supporting block bore when the manual die set is in a pressing configuration, the mandrel including an upper large diameter portion, a transition portion and a lower small diameter portion wherein the upper large diameter portion creates a hole in the cylindrical pellet when pressing with the supporting block and when pressing without the supporting block pushes the material onto the lower small diameter portion which may lift free from the hole to remove the cylindrical pellet.