Forge Mill Museum - Needle Making

Needle Making

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Needles started their lives as coils of steel wire usually from Sheffield or the Black Country. The wire was then “drawn” to the correct thickness. This was done by drawing the wire, which had been heated, through a series of holes in a metal block. The holes gradually got smaller in diameter, the block was known as the "worple plate". After being drawn the wire was then cut to the correct length, the length of two needles. This was done by using "cods head shears".

Up to 60’000 needles could be made from a drawn and straightened coil of wire, depending on the size of the needles being made.

After being drawn and cut the wire had to be straightened because it had come off a coil. This was done by packing up to 15,000 cut wires tightly between two iron rings. They were then heated until they were red hot. The wires, still in the rings, were then placed on an iron table and rolled back and forth with a "rubbing file". The backwards and forwards motion caused the wires to rub against each other and straightened themselves, this process took 2 to 3 minutes.

The" flips" or "stiffs" were ready now to be pointed.