A Brief History of Technology

CHAPTER TWO
A Brief History of Technology
Contents
2.1. Ancient and early technology 7
2.2. The nineteenth century 9
2.3. The twentieth century 10
2.4. Further reading 11
2.5. Questions and problems 11
2.1. ANCIENT AND EARLY TECHNOLOGY

Rod and wire technologies are of ancient origin, although some
distinction must be made between wire making and wire drawing. Gold
wire was incorporated into the adornments of the pharaohs by Egyptians as
early as 3000 BC, and technique development probably predates this era. It
is likely that the ancients cut strips from hammered foil and then drew
folded strips though stone dies as the initial step in wire making. Cross-
sectional consistencies indicate that drawing dies were available to such
craftsmen. It is thought that holes were bored in natural stone with the
aid of pointed sticks and sand/tallow abrasive media.
There are interesting references to wire in very early literature, particu-
larly in Homer’s Odyssey (The Songs of the Harper) and in the Old Testament
(Exodus 28:14 and 39:3). By fifth century BC, the Persians were drawing
0.55 mm bronze wire with iron draw plates, implying that they may have
understood the concepts of multiple passes and interpass annealing. Inter-
esting references to drawing technology were made by the Roman tribune
Claudius Claudianus toward the end of the Roman empire in 400 AD.
Moving ahead to the Middle Ages, the monk Theophilus Presbyter wrote
about drawing technology around 1125, and it is clear that commercial
practices were emerging. A document written in Paris around 1270 notes that:
1. The wire drawer must thoroughly understand his trade and have
sufficient capital at his command.
2. The wire drawer may have as many apprentices and servants as he
wishes, and may work nights as much as he pleases.
Wire Technology © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

ISBN 978-0-12-382092-1, DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-382092-1.00002-6 All rights reserved. 7
www.EngineeringBooksPDF.com
8 Wire Technology
3. The wire drawer need pay no taxes on anything relating to his trade
which he buys or sells in Paris.
4. Apprentices to wire drawers will serve ten years without pay and then be
paid a premium of 20 sous.
Nuremberg was apparently a major center for Middle Ages and Renaissance
wire technology, with documentation from the fourteenth to middle six-
teenth centuries found in the Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbruderstiftung zu
Nürnberg. Major developments are attributed to Rudolph von Nuremberg.
In the early fourteenth century he utilized water power and camshaft-driven
draw benches. Previous to this, the only practical sources of power were
manual, which involved such expedients as hand lever devices called
“brakes” and swinging body motion utilized by harnessed “girdlemen.”
The rather effective dies prepared from hard stone by the Egyptians were
followed in later millennia by easily worked, but rapidly wearing iron and
steel plates. An illustration of a swing-assisted medieval rod drawer with
tongs and drawing plate is shown in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 Illustration of medieval wire drawing, as presented in the Hausbuch der
Mendelschen Zwölfbruderstiftung zu Nürnberg.
A Brief History of Technology 9
Figure 2.2 Albrecht Durer’s 1489 painting, The Wire Drawing Mill. (Staatliche Museen,
Berlin)
The development of lubricants has been a vital, if subtle, aspect of the

history of drawing. The earliest drawing is thought to have depended on
animal fat or tallow. This was augmented by particulate matter in the form
of lime, carbon black, tars, powdered coal, and graphite. Reactive lubricant
additions that maintained lubricant integrity at elevated temperatures were
later introduced. Soft metal coatings were implemented in some cases. A
particularly intriguing development was Johan Gerdes’ discovery of the “sull
coat” (actually thin iron oxide) around 1632. He allegedly utilized the
superior lubrication response of wire exposed to human urine. Aspects of
Gerdes’ discovery were employed for the next two centuries.
The German artist Albrecht Durer painted The Wire Drawing Mill in
1489 with an apparent water power source, as shown in Figure 2.2.By the
fifteenth century none other than Leonardo da Vinci was sketching drawing
blocks and noted that: “Without experience you can never tell the real
strength with which the drawn iron resists the drawing plate.”
2.2. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The “industrial revolution” started at the end of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and the nineteenth century involved rapid improvements in wire
technology, particularly in regard to productivity. Beginning in Portsmouth,
10 Wire Technology
England, in 1783 with Henry Cort’s implementation of grooved rolls

through the evolution of Belgian looping mills in 1860, and George Bedson’s
continuous rod rolling mill installed in 1862 at the Bradford Ironworks in
England, rod rolling developments allowed and necessitated the processing of
very long lengths of rod and wire. In this context, the first continuous
drawing machines appeared in Germany and England around 1871.
Prior to the nineteenth century, wire production was motivated by the
demands of the decorative arts, the military, and the textile industry (card
wire). Much of nineteenth century progress was interrelated with the rapid
growth of new product markets. The following products and the dates of
their inception are noteworthy: wire rope (1820), telegraph wire (1844–1854),
wire nails (1851–1875), bale ties and barbed wire (1868), telephone wire
(1876), screw stock (1879), coiled wire springs (1879), and woven wire
fence (1884). Also important were large, but unstable, markets for women’s
apparel items such as hoop skirts (crinoline wire), corsets, and hairpins.
Development of cast iron and tool steel dies was undertaken in con-
junction with the increased productivity of the nineteenth century, and
natural diamonds were employed for sizes below one millimeter.
2.3. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Twentieth century wire processing advances included such items as
in-line annealing and heat treatment, sophisticated wire-handling systems
that allowed high drawing speeds, multiple strand drawing systems, and a
variety of process automation and control innovations. The engineering of
drawing systems was helped greatly by a number of practical results from
research and theoretical analysis. Particularly noteworthy were the published
efforts of Körber and Eichinger,3 Siebel,4,5 Sachs,6,7 Pomp,8 Wistreich,9 and
Avitzur.10,11
However, the most significant twentieth century advances have been in
the area of die materials. Vastly improved die performance/cost ratios were
enabled by the development of cemented carbide and synthetic diamonds.
The cemented carbide development is generally credited to two indepen-
dent German investigators, Baumhauer and Schröter, who incorporated
cobalt and tungsten carbide powders into a sinterable compact in 1923.
The product was developed commercially by the firm of Friedrich Krupp
under the trade name of Widia. This economical and highly wear-resistant
material quickly supplanted most die materials, even threatening to displace
diamond dies.
A Brief History of Technology 11
The use of natural diamond dies for fine gages persisted; however, and
natural diamond dies and modern carbides were joined in 1974 by synthetic
diamond dies, first introduced by the General Electric Company under the
name Compax. This product, and subsequent variations and competing
products, utilized synthetic diamond powder first developed by General
Electric in 1954.
Twentieth century lubrication developments involved the use of a
number of chemically engineered soaps, gels, and emulsions, including
synthetic as well as natural products. Major attention was devoted to
lubricant removal and disposal as well as to environmental impact.
2.4. FURTHER READING

The remarks in the previous section are a short summary abstracted
from a number of more extensive publications. For more information, the
interested reader is directed to a number of reviews, which, in turn,
reference historical sources.12–15
2.5. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

2.5.1 Read the technology references in Exodus 28:14 and 39:3, preferably
in more than one translation of the Bible. What sorts of equipment or
manual skills are implied?
Answers: The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Holy Bible
refers to “two chains of pure gold, twisted like cord” in Exodus 28:14,
whereas the King James Version (KJV) refers to “two chains of pure gold at
the ends; of wreathen work.” In Exodus 39.3, it is noted in the NRSV that
“gold leaf was hammered out and cut into threads,” whereas the KJV says
“And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires.” It seems
that drawing is not described, but rather the cutting of strips from ham-
mered foil. Cutting tools would have been required. One wonders if the
chains referred to were cut whole from plate or involved wire joined into
loops.
2.5.2 Compare one or more of the Paris regulations created around 1270
with practices in today’s wire industry.
Answers: The need for capital remains an issue, to say the least (regulation 1).
Clearly the city of Paris was offering incentives for a resident wire industry, as
regions seeking to attract industry still do(regulation 3). The practices of
regulations 2 and 4 are not as common today.
12 Wire Technology
2.5.3 Examine Figure 2.1 carefully. What drawing speed and production
rate do you think the craftsman is capable of?
Answer: Routine hand labor is generally at speeds of 1 m/s, and this would
be a good guess for the worker in Figure 2.1. The rod appears to have a
diameter of roughly 2 cm. Thus the volume drawn in 1 s would be near
300 cm3, and the volume for an hour of actual drawing would be somewhat
over 1 m3. If the product were iron base, the mass for an hour of actual
drawing would be under 10,000 kg or a rate of roughly ten tons per hour.
This does not factor in the down time between pulls and time for rest. The
drawer would probably be doing well to draw a ton or two per hour.
2.5.4 The development of the American “heartland” involved numerous
expanded markets for wire, and there is even a pertinent citation at the
Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Similar observations can be made for central
Europe. Cited in Section 2.2 are examples of wire products and applications
such as telegraph and telephone wire, bale ties and barbed wire, and woven
fence wire. Moreover, the ubiquitous availability of wire led to many
secondary products often made at home or by traveling “tinkers.” Think
of some possible home implements that could have been made of wire.
Answers: The interested reader is directed to Everyday Things Wire by
Slesin et al.16 Examples of cages, traps, baskets, wine caddies, condiment
sets, grills, toasters, bottle carriers, egg holders, and platters are shown, as
well as illustrations of whisks, beaters, whips, griddles, forks, mashers,
strainers, hangers, light and lamp protectors, weeders, pickers, and endless
toys and “gifts.”

A Brief History of Technology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Brief History of Technology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

A Brief History of Technology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHAPTER TWO

A Brief History of Technology

2.1. ANCIENT AND EARLY TECHNOLOGY

Wire Technology © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

The development of lubricants has been a vital, if subtle, aspect of the

2.2. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

England, in 1783 with Henry Cort’s implementation of grooved rolls

2.3. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

2.4. FURTHER READING

2.5. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

You might also like