Patent ID: 7409847

Claim:
A die set for reducing a cylindrical ferrule, comprising: a female die having a first end, a second end, and a female die opening extending from the first end toward the second end, the female die opening sequentially defined by a tapered section, a parallel section, and a concave seat, the tapered section sized to receive the ferrule and decreasing in width to transition to the parallel section, the parallel section terminating at the concave seat, the concave seat having a radius of curvature; and a male die having a concave die face with at least two lateral edges, a medial area, and a radius of curvature, the male die receivable in the female die opening to move the ferrule through the tapered section so as to forge the ferrule into a substantially oval shape, to move the oval shaped ferrule through the parallel section, and to compress the oval shaped ferrule between the concave die face and the concave seat to forge the oval shaped ferrule into a substantially cylindrical shape having a diameter less than an original diameter of the cylindrical ferrule, the radius of curvature of the concave die face of the male die being greater than the radius of curvature of the concave seat of the female die such that contact between the ferrule and the concave die face is shifted from the lateral edges of the concave die face to the medial area of the concave die face as the ferrule is moved through the tapered section and being forged into the substantially oval shape.