Iron County register., 1890-01-23
MAKING HAIR-PINS,
How Those Useful Articles of Woman.
Toilet Are Manufactured.


How Those Useful Articles of Worlan's
Toilet Are Manufactured.
Hair-pins that bear French label on
the package. as we'll as those having an
American label, are nearly if not quite
all manufactured at birmingham, En-
gland a hair-pin manufactory is
very interesting place to spend pleas
ant half hour. The hair-pin is a very
Small article. yet it forms an important
article of commerce, and great deal of
complicated and costly machinery is
used to turn them out in sufficient guam
titles to meet the ever-increasing de-
mandS of an advancing civilization. In
halr-pln manufactory on the ground
floor are situated the engine, boiler and
lapanning rooms.
Ascending to the second floor, there
is found all the machinery used in cut
ting, pointing. bending, crifaping a2d
shaping the hair-pin.
The material of which hair-pins 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, straighten and cuts it into the re-
quired lengths. each of these lengths
dropping into box the proper size, tc
prevent their lying at right angles tc
each other. and q gentle shake given
the box causes them all to lie parallel.
In front of this box and just below il
is solid wheel. the periphery Of which
is grOoved parallel with its axis. These
grooves are Just the size Of the wire,
and the face of the wheel is of a size tC
allow the straight wires to jut over a
triie at each end. As this wheel re-
wolves it receives the wires at the top,
and as the wheel slowly revolves it car
ries the wires with it. On the side that
they would fall off by force of gravity
they are tightly held in place by belt
similar to Il 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 the required shape by two small
grindstones, set at an angle that will
properly point them. Now. as the
wheel further revolves the wires drop
off and fall into a box made Just the
length to receive them. tits during the
working of this machine that noise
which much resembles duet played on
the Scotch bagpipes is evolved. The
wires are now ready for the next ma
chine, which is called a bender. This
machine has a steel box with a slanting
bottom. At the bottom of the slant is a
longitudinal aperture, of sufficient size
to allow the wires to fall out one at a
time.
They fall between two plates of hard
ened steel, at the bottom of which
works a steel rod finely tempered on
the end. 1t slides back just far enough
to allow of one wire at time to fall
through the steel plates and is then
driven forward through small hole in
a plate of hardened steel, conveying the
dOuble-iointed piece of steel wire with
it and bending it into the proper shape
of 4 hairpin. Some have to be crimpcd,
and these are passed between set of
steel Jaws that closes on them one at
time and crimps them for a portion of
their length on each prong into a 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 a large crock. known by the
name of a jowl, and two tablesDOonfuls
Of the japan is poured on them and then
they are stirred and worked around in
the jowl until each separate hairpin has
received Il 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 a 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 unfit
for use.
This is repeated for medium grades,
and three coats are put on for the best
work. They are then sent to the pack
ingroom. where they 60 through
process called heading. This consists
of getting each one strung upon wire.
The next operation is to weigh them
and pack them in small packages, prop
erly 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. y packet of one dozen hair
pins usually sells for two cents at retail
N. y. Star.