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Making needles in History

Consider this. The man who invented the wheel was wearing animal skins that had been sewn with a needle. Such it was the needle that had the greatest impact on the future of humanity.

Being able to sew skins together to craft clothing for warmth and protection enabled Stone Age men to remain in northern areas of the planet, hence breaking their nomadic existence.

The needle has always been a simple tool. Whether bone or metal, the concept remains the same – a pointed instrument pulling a thread through some material. The most important a needle is a sharp point to push through the material and a hole or hook to carry the thread.

During the Bronze Age, the needles were developed that were made of metal instead of the original bone or horn. Access to early metal needles was limited by cost, since only the gold and bronze were used for manufacture them.

Once iron has been developed, manufacturers could make low-cost needles, allowing the wives of farmers access to these much improved tools for sewing.

Records indicate that the Spanish became proficient at making sewing needles excellent, its well-kept secrets, curbing the spread of manufacturing to other parts of the world. Ultimately, however, English has developed a process which remains the bar high for needles modern.

The process and the number of steps needed to make a needle – even today – is striking.

Beginning with a wire coil, the first step was Cut the cable in lengths of 3 inches and then straighten the curve. This seems to be simple, but requires that the cable is heated, compressed and then cooled.

Once cooled, the cable was delivered to a mill that made points on both ends of the cable. Because this step requires a water wheel, the needle-makers lived in the early in villages near streams and rivers where water can harness the energy to run their water wheels.

As you can imagine, the work of a needle mill is quite deadly. Standing on a grindstone breathing particles of jagged steel needle and stone powder, these men refused to take safety precautions, and it believes it has limited the number of newcomers to the trade. That he did, but also limits their life expectancy.

Once the points were dirt at the ends of the wire, which was taken to the printing workshop in the two eyes and two canals were sealed in the middle, and the eye was beaten out.

Using wires between the eyes, fine needle new, separate, grinding burrs are the ends, and needles were ready for the hardening and finishing.

Tempering was done by the heating of the needles on trays, then got into oil, making them fragile. Additional slow heating, while he turned to hand with the ax-like tools metal needles caused the color change from pale red to blue and then to a straw color.

When the temple was right, the heat was removed and the needles were more ready for finishing.

The needle felt (yes, by hand) to find small warps. If there is any, the needle is tapped with a small hammer on a small anvil to straighten it. Every day for eight hours a day for 8 days needles were wrapped in canvas with oil, soap and Emery, who made them soft and shiny.

Then they were dumped in a copper container filled with soapy water to clean. Finally, rinsed and dried in a bucket of sawdust.

The challenge then was removed from the needles of the sawdust, aligned so that even killed and then together so they could be large. After needles were sorted into different sizes, which were weighed and put into equal size packets, called "enterprise".

But the process still not over yet!

In the final steps, the heads are heated to give a blue tint and countersink to soften the eyes. Arbor was to ensure smoothness so that the needle does not shred the thread.

Once the countersinking was complete, qualified grinding mills, once again heads and the needle points to the quality desired has been achieved. Finally, the needles were packaged and sold.

Although fully automated, modern needles are still made from coiled wire, cut pieces the length of two needles, and points are ground at both ends of the piece. Two eye shapes are the hallmark in the center of the piece, the holes are punched out and the needles are separated.

Modern needles are often mild and galvanized nickel. Often, the eye is gold, creating a kind of look for gold.

Actually, there are about 70 processes running through cable to turn it into a needle!

It's amazing what it takes to create a pointed thing short, straight, with a hole at one end.

About the Author

Penny Halgren http://www.TheQuiltingCoach.com Penny is a quilter of more than 26 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful family heirloom quilts while enjoying the history of the craft.

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