Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1895-05-16
How Pins Are Made.

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part of the second. The metal is first
cast in ingots in an iron mold about
six feet long, three inches wide and
half as thick. These bars are rolled
into sheets about one-eighth Of an inch
thick. The pressure of the rolls makes
the metal infexible and somewhat brit
tie. and the bars are annealed or soft
ened by heat and slow cooling several
times while being reduced from lngots
to sheets. When the sheets have
reached the required thinness they are
passed through Sitting rolls, which
slice up the sheets into rods one-eighth
of an inch square and these rods are
drawn into wire One end of the rod
is pointed so that it will pass through
a round hole in the steel draw plate.
A pair Of powerful niPpers grasps the
pointed end of the rod and as the MP
pers are on a revolving reel the rod Is
drawn through the hole and comes out
on the other side 4 round wire, small
rim diameter than the square rod was.
The reel of wire is annealed, and then
drawn through another and smaller
hole and this process Is continued, the
wire being annealed each time, until
the size required for the pin is reached.
The metal, though somewhat stiff,
is too soft to spring out straight, and
as the drawing reels are Of smaller
diameter, the wire is kinky and set
and must be Strengthened before it's
ready for the pin-making machine.
The kinks are taken ont of the wire
by pulling it through a series of small
Strengthening rolls, with horizontal
and vertical rolls alternating in the
series. The wire is then wound on a
large reel which is hung over the won
derul pin-making machine.
In this machine the pin Is cut from
the wire, headed, pointed, sharPcned
and polished. Itisa complicated, IN
teresting combination Of steel fingers,
rollers, cams, toggle joints, headers,
revolving files and belts. The wire,
caught by pain Of rollers, Is drawn
forward into the machine, and quick
AS a flash the wire is cut Just the night
length. then come two raps from
cam and toggla and the head is on the
PIN. \ steel finger puts the headed
blank on a wheel under the heading
dies and the pointless pin is carried
down between two revolving steel
disks. One of them revolyes faster
than the other, so that the pin Is
turned around as it travels forward.
Just at this point 1t comes IN contact
with four revolving files, which point
the pin, then the emery belt puts the
first polish on the household necessity
The pins drop from the machine at
the rate Of 100 a minute and faster
and fall into a hopper, from which
they are taken to the timing room.
In passing through the pin-making
machine the pins become covered with
oil and dirt, and this is removed by
putting them into a revolving iron
barrel with sawdust, where they are
tumbled about for ten minutes and
thoroughly secured. They are then
ready to be timed For four hours
they are boiled in a preparation Of
pure tin, and are then washed with
strong soapsuds to give them a smooth
surface After another tumbllng in
the sawdust they are ready to be stuck
into the papers.
The sticking machine is another IN
genious piece Of mechanism, fol It
crimps the paper and sticks in the
pins at the same time. The pins are
put in a hopper which feeds the stick
ing machine. An inclined steel plate,
fnrrowed with little "runs" or chan
nels, leads from the hopper to the
machine. The pins are caught by re-
yolyirg steel fingers and pushed for
ward upon the inclined plate which
moves slightly back and forth across
the rows Of slots. This "cutting-of
plate catches the pins, and when the
/ holes are full number Of little rams
or hammers shove the pins into the
crimp Of the paper, which il formed a
second before the pins are stuck in.
The more expensive pins are stuck
in thirty to the row and twelve rows
to the paper, but the cheaper pins are
stuck in twenty to the row and four
teen rows to the paper. The sticking
machine for the cheap pins sticks 100
rows a minute. The paper is fed in
from roll and Is cut up TO the prop
er length for paper Of pins after the
v.irs have hesn sfuck IN These Dins