Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-06-30
A COIL OF WIRE.
How it is Made From What is Techni-
cally Known as "BIoom."

carly hnOWn as BlOOm.o
How are large cakes or Jumps of steel
made into fine wire? The process is inter
esting. How do the steel blooms become
finely polished wire? The manufacture is
peculiar The bloom, as we follow it in
the wire factory, is first cut into billets
some twenty inches long and four inches
square. These are brought red-hot from
the furnaces and slipped between the rolls.
In moment the billet of steel becomes a
stout, tbery serpent. A man at the oppo-
site side of the furnace nips it around the
neck with his tongs, and slips its head be-
tween the next and small pair of rolls. so
that before the tail Of the red serpent
has emerged from between the larger
rolls, the head had been squeezed to
smaller dimensions in the second rolls.
The same process is repeated again after
the rod has passed through the second
roll, workmen being ready to seize the SER
pent, twist his body around and let its
head be caught by third roll. Thus it is
passed on, each time becoming longer and
thinner, and the billet, after passing
through eighteen rolls, becomes a wire
rod. As the rod passes through the last
roll 1t Is conveyed through a pipe three
inches IN circumference As ii wriggles
out OF the pipe in twisted form it is
thrown across the IRON floor of the factory
or wire mill!
The rolls are kept constantly at work.
for one rod has no sooner passed through
the first roll than another enters it, and
as the rod grows in length one end NAV be
passing out across the floor while the other
IS "a Il
twists its dull-red, thread-like length like
serpent in and out of the rolls, often near
the ankles of the workmen ready with
their tongs to guide it onward in its de-
vious wlndings. When the rod is at last
spun upon the floor the end is taken up
and twisted upon its reel, which rapidly
winds it into coil
After the rods leave the "blooming
mill they are taken to the "wire MILL
where they are hung around wooden
blocks, perhaps half dozen coils on each
block, which are lowered into huge tubs of
sulphuric acid, and allowed to remain
there until the acid has removed the i'm
purities from the surface The blocks are
then raised by a pulley, and the rods are
thrown upon the floor and washed with
hose. Having been loaded on trucks
and dried, one end of each rod is pointed
by a revolving machine so as to pass into
the die which is to draw the rods into
wire. Having been removed to the wire
blocks, the rods are then drawn by being
passed through tapering hole in a steel
die.
The steel rod, having thus been trans
formed into wire, is taken to the annealing
furnace, where it is annealed and polished
by secret process. The wire, which has
hitherto been of a dull brown color, is
given bright polish by the annealing,
and the cleaning which it afterwards re-
ceives. Having been removed to the gal
vanizing house, the wire is run over a Sc
ries of wheels and slides which stretch it
from the floor horizontally, and, working
automatically, dips the wire in lime every
time it reaches the floor. In galvanizing,
the process consists of the wire passing
through solution of muriatic acid and
gravel, next through drying fuanace, and
afterward through a metal bath of zinc
The wire next passes through "wiping
box" filled with mineral wool which is
agitated by a number Of rollers. The sub
stance wipes off the surplus zinc and be-
slows upon the wire a smooth surface. The
long line of wire, which now has a bright,
silvery appearance, is then bundled up in
reels ready for the market, each reel
weighing about 100 pounds. - Wheeling,
{ " va Register