Formation of non-axial features in compacted powder metal components

A method for compacting powder metal into a powder metal part having a non-axial feature comprising the steps of:

• a) inserting powder metal into a cavity of a tool set, the tool set comprising an upper die having at least one axially movable upper punch, a lower die having at least one axially movable lower punch and an undercut die located between the upper die and the lower die, wherein the undercut die contains a plurality of co-planar shaped punches forming a circumferential pattern, the circumferentially disposed shaped punches having an outer circumference and an inner circumference, each shaped punch having a first side edge, a second side edge, an outer edge and a tip;
• b) moving the upper punch and the lower punch toward each other into the cavity under progressively increasing pressure to form a compacted powder metal part while actuating a drive mechanism to rotate the shaped punches from a maximum diameter position to a minimum diameter position of the inner circumference;
• c) rotating the shaped punches from the minimum diameter position to the maximum diameter position while releasing the pressure on the upper and lower punches and retracting them from the cavity;
• and
• d) removing the compacted powder metal part from the cavity.