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United Wire Works Manufacturers of Wirecloth - Granton Park Avenue, Granton |
©: Peter Stubbs. Please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk Photo taken July 29, 1992
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United Wire Works Wire Weaving |
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Background When I visited United Wire Works in 1991 and 1992, the company manufactured much of its own wire, copper, nickel, etc, but not stainless steel. That was bought in. However the United Wire Works wire manufacturing plant closed around 2001. The company now buys in all the wire that it weaves, most of it being stainless steel. |
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Manufacturing the wire The furnaces produced wire in continuous strands from its furnaces. This was first spooled, and was then ready to be drawn. |
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Drawing and Annealing the wire The wire produced was then drawn through a succession of drawing machines, each time becoming longer and thinner. Sometimes the drawings continued until the wire was only 0.25mm thick. It was also annealed by heating to soften it and restore some of its properties after having been stressed by the drawing. The annealing could either be: - strand annealing, where individual strands of wire are passed continuously through an oven, OR - batch annealing, where whole coils of wire were lifted to an area where a cover would be placed on top and they would be heated. The photograph above is wire about to be batch annealed. |
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Weaving the Wire Looms were then used to weave the wire. Here is one of them, photographed in 1992. |
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