In the manufacture of wire, the metal from which it is to be made is
first cast or wrought into an ingot (A, fig. 1); it is then passed
between rollers (fig. 2) which flatten it into a sheet (B, fig. 1),
which is next carried between other rollers (fig. 3) having their
surfaces so cut that the projections on one of them fit into the
hollows of the other, forming so many cutting edges or shears
(fig. 4), from which the sheet of metal comes forth at A, fig. 3,
cut into strips or square rods (C, fig. 1). These rods are then drawn
with great force through a plate of hardened steel having a series
of holes, gradually diminishing in size, bored through it, which is
called the “draw-plate;” the wire (of whatever metal it be) has to
be heated red-hot from time to time, to soften or “anneal” it, for
the compression produced by the drawing so hardens it that it becomes
brittle. A pair of nippers holds the end of the wire, and these are
moved along a sort of bench by a “rack and pinion” (fig. 5). When all
has passed the first hole, it is drawn through the second, and so on
to the size required. When the wire is pretty fine, it is attached
to a “cylinder,” which on turning round winds off the wire and at
the same time draws it through the plate, as shown in the engraving,
the wire being made to pass over a small charcoal fire previous to
entering the draw-plate.