Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) subjects a component to elevated temperatures and pressures to eliminate internal microshrinkage. HIP enables engineers to design components to meet specifications for use in critical, highly stressed applications. The reduced porosity of HIP’ed materials enables improved mechanical properties and increased workability. The HIP process enables engineers to produce materials of all shapes and sizes, including cylindrical billets, flat rectangular bar billets, solid shapes with complex external geometry, and complex shapes with internal cavities. The HIP process provides a method for producing components from diverse powdered materials, including metals and ceramics. Because powder metals do not have the directional property characteristics of forgings, the HIP process can produce materials from metallic compositions that are difficult or impossible to forge or cast.