How sewing needles are made

A sewing needle starts as a length of wire long enough for two, pointed at both ends and split in the middle.

stations: 8
things upstream: 34
raw sources: 16
steps from the ground: 6

The short version

Machinery pulls steel wire off spools, straightens it and cuts a length often long enough for two needles. Swaging shapes the shank and blade cold, a high-speed stamper pierces the eye, and milling forms the point. The needles are then heated, quenched in oil, deep frozen, tumbled with abrasive and plated.

Straighten the wire

Machines pull wire from two coils at once and guide it through narrow passages that take out the kinks.

Goes in
Steel wire
Cut the lengths

The wire is chopped to length and dropped down a shaking chute into bins. One patented method cuts a blank with enough material for two needles, parted later.
Swage shank and blade

Pressure cold-forms the metal into its new shape without removing any. Trademarks and size markings are stamped in during this step.
Stamp the eye

A carrier strip holds the blanks while a precision stamper pierces each eye. The edges of the hole are then rounded from both sides so thread will not fray on them.
Mill the point

The blank turns repeatedly against a cutter, which forms the point. The quality of the finished needle depends heavily on this step.
Harden in oil

The needles are heated, quenched in oil and slowly cooled, which adds strength and reduces brittleness. A deep freeze makes them more elastic.
Tumble smooth

Batches go into a tub-like machine full of abrasive media, where vibration and a chemical treatment polish them.
Plate the surface

Nickel or gold plating protects the steel and lets it slide through cloth. Finished needles go through a final inspection.

Goes in
Nickel Gold

End of the lineSewing needle

Worth repeating

A bone needle estimated to be around 50,000 years old was found in Denisova Cave.
England began making needles in 1639 at Redditch using the drawn-wire technique still in common use.
Bronze Age needle makers made the eye by turning the wire back on itself and redrawing it through the die.