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Needles
The region of Aachen is considered as one of the most important centers of needle production in Germany and one of the last still existing. The needles manufactured in Aachen were held in high esteem not only in Germany but also worldwide. In our museum we show machines and tools documenting the different procedures necessary to produce a needle, starting with a piece of wire and ending with the final check of the finished product.
The recorded history of needle making in Aachen reaches back to the 16th century. Whereas a listing of guild members dates back to 1584, a first set of guild rules was drafted in 1615. Among others, these rules specified that only pure and best quality steel wires had to be used for needle making.
In 1798, Napoleon abolished the guilds and the opening of the French market resulted in a temporary bloom of needle manufacturing.
During the 19th century, numerous technological improvements were developed, such as mechanical presses for shaping the eye-part of the needle and punching the eye.
Around 1900, a total of 29 needle factories existed in Aachen employing 4022 workers.
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In 1845, the American Elias Howe invented the first sewing machine and Isaak Merrit Singer (also an American) had another type of sewing machine patented in 1851. The method of using standardized and fully exchangeable parts which had been developed in the armory industry was successfully applied by Singer for mass-production of sewing machines. Customers were given the opportunity to pay by installments. Thus, sewing machines were soon in common use, even in private households, and the needle manufacturers in Aachen started with the production of needles for sewing machines.
- Swagging machine
These needles for sewing machines were also made of a steel wire, having the same diameter as the base of the needle type to be produced. The diameter of the steel wire was partially reduced to form the slender needle shaft. A pair of hammering, rotating rams hit the wire along its circumference until the desired shaft diameter was reached (cold swagging). The exhibited machines had a capacity of 7 to 10 raw needles per minute.
- Machine for pressing and punching
Subsequently, the raw needle was pressed to form the flattened eye part and the eye was punched at the second working station of the same machine.
- Cutting the thread groove
After having punched the eye, another machine was used to cut the thread groove into the shaft.
- Circumferential grinding.
During the processes of pressing the eye part, punching the eye and cutting the thread groove, sharp protruding edges were left, which had to be removed.
Several needles were clamped into a pair of pliers, the jaws of which could be moved sidewise and in opposite direction to each other. In consequence, the clamped needles started to rotate and could be ground on a grinding stone around their total circumference.
- Machine to grind needle points.
Another machine was used to grind the needle points. A transport screw moved the needle ends over a grinding stone under the desired angle.
Between the different processes, the needles had to be washed and dried in wooden, rotating barrels filled with saw dust.
- Final inspection of needles
For final inspection, the needles were adjacently placed in a row in order to detect differences in length, surface properties and appearance of the needle points. By applying very slight pressure a finger was carefully moved over this row, thus causing all the individual needles to rotate. In this way the needles could easily be inspected and defective or imperfect specimens were sorted out.
