The Wire Drawing Process

The process itself is actually quite simple.  To begin the wire drawing process, a spool of wire is placed at beginning of the machine on a spool.  In order to feed it through the machine, the end of wire must be cut or flattened.  It is fed through the machine and through a series of dies to achieve its final cross sectional area.  The end of the machine usually has a spool or coiler so the finished product is a coil of wire at the desired cross sectional area.  The end process may also be a barrel packer where a barrel is placed and the coiled wire is spooled directly into the barrel using a turntable. 

It is vitally important the temperature of the machinery does not get too hot (primarily caused by the energy released while deforming of the metal) and the wire has a constant tension and speed as it moves through the series of dies.  Historically this was achieved solely by mechanical means.  However, DC drives began to be used to operate the motors at certain levels depending on the metal and cross section required.  As technology improved, software was added for winder applications which kept the material moving at the proper speed and tension to ensure a good product.  This removed some of the mechanics and transferred it to electronic technology.  With the introduction of high performance/ high efficiency ac drives with powerful processors for software, mechanical dependency on the machinery is greatly diminished.