Drawing

A rod or fiber is pulled through a narrowing die or from a hot source, which makes it thinner, longer and often stronger.

36 lines that use it

3D printer filament 6 stations · 13 raw sources Barbed wire 7 stations · 13 raw sources Coil spring 7 stations · 21 raw sources Copper wire 6 stations · 4 raw sources Cotton yarn 6 stations · 1 raw source Fiberglass 6 stations · 10 raw sources Flute 9 stations · 12 raw sources Gas cylinder 10 stations · 25 raw sources Guitar string 6 stations · 18 raw sources Heart stent 6 stations · 15 raw sources Incandescent light bulb 7 stations · 11 raw sources Nichrome 8 stations · 15 raw sources Nylon 6 stations · 5 raw sources Optical fiber 6 stations · 12 raw sources Paperclip 5 stations · 20 raw sources Piano 8 stations · 15 raw sources Plastic wrap 6 stations · 11 raw sources Polyester 6 stations · 8 raw sources Power cable 9 stations · 10 raw sources Pressure cooker 8 stations · 18 raw sources Saxophone 9 stations · 25 raw sources Sewing needle 8 stations · 16 raw sources Sewing thread 7 stations · 8 raw sources Silk 6 stations · 4 raw sources Smartphone cover glass 5 stations · 12 raw sources Solder 6 stations · 10 raw sources Staple 6 stations · 14 raw sources Steel chain 7 stations · 12 raw sources Steel wire 7 stations · 12 raw sources Syringe 7 stations · 23 raw sources Toothbrush 7 stations · 14 raw sources Trumpet 7 stations · 18 raw sources Tungsten 6 stations · 3 raw sources USB cable 9 stations · 22 raw sources Vacuum flask 6 stations · 19 raw sources Wire rope 6 stations · 12 raw sources

What it looks like on the line

FluteDraw the body tube. The metal is formed into a tube. The flute is, in its most basic form, an open tube that the player blows across.
Power cableDraw the copper. Copper is pulled through diamond dies on drawing machines until it is thin wire. The wire gets longer and finer with each die.
FluteAdd the tone holes. Tone holes are either drawn up out of the tube wall or made separately and soldered on, each one fitted to the tube by hand. Their size and position decide which pitch each fingering gives.
Sewing threadDraw out the sliver. Typically 6 or 8 slivers run together through rollers whose front pair turns faster than the back. Polyester gets two drawing stages. A speed frame then thins it to roving and adds a slight twist.
PolyesterStretch the filaments. The strands are drawn to several times their spun length, which lines up the molecules and makes the fiber strong and less stretchy.
Barbed wireDraw the wire. Lubricated rod is pulled through dies, each narrower than the last. The wire comes out far thinner and very stiff.
Steel wirePull it through the dies. A rotating drum winds up the wire and drags it through the die. Steel wire uses dies of tungsten carbide. Each pull reduces the area by 15 to 25 percent for small wires and 20 to 45 percent for larger ones.
PaperclipStraighten the coil. Wire comes off a coil with a curve in it. Rollers take out the bend before any forming starts, since tension or curl in the wire makes the clip's size hard to control.
Guitar stringDraw the hex core. High-carbon steel wire is drawn through a die so that it has six flat sides. The corners give the wrap wire something to grip.
USB cableDraw the copper wire. Copper rod is pulled through a series of ever-smaller dies until it is a thin strand. Several strands are twisted into one flexible conductor.
Vacuum flaskForm two shells. An inner liner and a slightly larger outer shell are shaped from stainless steel, by deep drawing sheet or by swelling tube with water pressure. Dewar's originals used glass and brass.
Wire ropeDraw high-carbon wire. Rope wires are plain carbon steel with 0.4 to 0.95 percent carbon, drawn very hard so each thin wire is strong. Rope that runs over small pulleys needs wire that bends again and again without cracking.