Wire forming is the process of bending or shaping a useful
product from a roll of gauged wire. This process may not sound
very useful on the surface, but just think about how many
comforts of industrialized living we would not have without the
abilities of forming wire. Skyscrapers would not exist without
rebar, electric light bulbs could not work without a filament.
Even the bed you sleep on contains springs that were made using
the process of wire forming. Today, we use a simple technique
very much like the Egyptians to work and form our metal. This
process is called wire drawing, and was developed around 1,000
C.E. Metalworkers take a strip of metal and pull it through a
series of metal dies, or molds, along with some lubrication. The
process is in itself very simple, and a person can make many
sizes and thicknesses of wire by using different sets of dies.
In fact, this process is so versatile that we also use drawing
in conjunction with glass in order to make fiber optic cable. In
conclusion, we think of