Morning journal and courier., 1889-12-26
MAKING HAIRPINs.
How Those Useful Articles of WS mans Toilet Are Manufactured.


 mans Toilet Are Manufactured. Hairpins that bear French label on the package, as we'll as those having an Ameri- can label, are nearly if not quite all manu- factured at Birmingham, England. A hair- pin manufactory is very interesting place | to spend pleasant half hour. The hairpin is very small article, yet it forms an i'm portant article of commerce and great deal of complicated and costly machinery is used to turn them out in sufficient quanti- ties to meet the ever increasing demands of sn advancing civilization. In hairpin manufactory on the ground floor are situated I the engine, boiler and jspanning rooms. Ascending to the second floor, there is found all the machinery used in cutting, pointing, bending. crimping and shaping the | hairpin.
 The material of which hairpins are usually made is steel wire. This comes to the hair pin manufactory wound around immense spools. These are placed in a machine that draws off the wire, stiaiahtens and cuts 1t into the required lengths. each of these lengths dropping into box the proper size, to prevent their lying at right angles to each other, and . gentle shake given the box causes them all to lie parallel.
 In front of this box and just below it is a solid wheel, the periphery of which is grooved parallel with its axis. These grooves are just tho size of the wire, and the face of the wheel is of size to allow the straight wires to jut over Q trife at each end. As this wheel revolves 1t receives the wires at the top, and as the wheel slowly revolvss it carries the wires with 1t. On tho side thai they would fall off by force of gravity they are tightly held in place by belt similar to a slack belt tightener, which is often used on short belts.
 While being held in place by this belt they are also ground on their projecting ends to tho. required shape by two small grindstones, set at an angle that will proper ly point them. Now as the wheel further re- wolves the wires drop of and fall into box made just the length to receive them. It ia during the working of this machine that d noise which much resembles a duet played on the Scotch bagpipes is evolved. The wires are now ready for the next machine, which is called bender. This machine has e steel box with . slsnting bottom. At the bottom of the slant Is longitudinal aper- ture, of sufficient size to allow the wires to fall out one at time.
 | They fall between two plates of hardened steel, at the bottom of which works steel rod finely tempered on the end. It slides | back just far enough to allow of one wire at a time to fall through the steel plates and is then driven forward through e small hole in double pointed piece of steel wire with it and bending 1t into the proper shape of 8 hairpin. Some have to be crimped, and these are passed between set of steel jaws that closes on them one at time and crimps them for portion of their length on each prong into waved outline.
 They are now ready to receive their first coat of Japan. On being taken to the ground floor, about half bushel is placed in large crook, known by the name of a jowl, and two tablespoonfuls of the japan is poured on them, and then they are stirred and worked around in the jowl until each separate hairpin has received . complete coating of japan. They are then taken out of the jowl and placed on shallow tin trays and put in an oven and baked. The baking of the japan on 2 hairpin Is an operation re- quiring great judgment and skill on the part of the operator. They must be cooked just enough and no more, or they blister and are rendered rough and unit for use.
 This is repeated for medium grades, and three coats are put on for the best work. They are then sent to the packing room, where they go through process called head ing. This consists of getting each one strung upon wire. The next operation is to weigh them and pack them in small packages, properly labeled for the retail trade. The final operation consists of putting them up in gross lots and packing them in large boxes for shipment to all parts of the world. A packet of one dozen hairpins usually sells for two cents ct retail.