Wire Drawing Machine

A wire drawing machine reduces the cross-section of metal wire by pulling it through a shaped die, using a rotating drum, called a block, that coils the wire around its tapered surface and draws it steadily through the die; continuous machines chain several such blocks and dies together, each turning at a different speed to match the wires changing length and speed as it thins. Drawing dies are made from tool steel, tungsten carbide or diamond, with the hardest, single-crystal diamond dies used for the finest wire, and each die carries at least two different internal angles to guide the wire smoothly through the reduction. The machine mechanized what had long been a manual craft of pulling wire through hand dies, making uniform wire available in the volumes needed by the electrical, cable and fastener industries.