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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NAN-NEW |
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NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning) , an instrument adapted for passing a thread through fabrics in sewing, consisting of a thin rod of steel, having a pointed end and pierced with a hole or " eye " to carry the thread. The term is also applied to various other objects that more or less resemble a sewing needle in form, though differing in function, such as the magnetized piece of steel that points north and south in the mariner's compass, the pointer or indicator of certain forms of electric telegraph instruments, the slender tube by which the contents of a hypodermic syringe are injected beneath the skin, a sharp
Sewing needles have been in use from prehistoric times. Originally they were made of fishbone, bone or ivory, and their first form was probably a rude bodkin having a hook instead of an eye, though bone needles with an eye, sometimes at the end and sometimes in the middle, have been found in cave de-posits in Great Britain and France and in the Swiss lakes. Bone needles continue to be used by uncivilized tribes, but since the iiscovery of bronze metal needles have been employed in civilized communities. Steel needles were introduced into Europe by the Moors, and it is on record that they were being made at Nuremberg in 137o. In England their manufacture was established about 165o. The centre of the trade in England is Redditch, in Worcestershire, with several other small towns in Warwickshire. Originally the industry was domestic in its character, but it is now carried on in factories where mechanical appliances have to a great extent supplanted handwork. Large quantities of needles are also manufactured on the continent of Europe, Aix-la-Chapelle being an important centre of their production. In the United States ordinary sewing needles are not made, though there is a large output of the special
The raw material of needle-manufacture consists of Sheffield crucible steel drawn
diameter , and the first operation is to cut the coils into lengths, each sufficient for two needles. These lengths are next straightened. For this purpose a bundle containing several thousand lengths is packed within two strong iron rings, is heated to red heat, and is then pressed on an iron plate having two parallel grooves in which the iron rings run. Over this plate the bundle is worked backward and forward by the pressure of an oblong slightly curved iron tool having two longitudinal slits through which the edges of the rings project. Thus, by combined pressure and rolling the whole of the lengths quickly become perfectly straight and even. The next operation consists in pointing both ends of the wires. This was formerly done by hand by a grinder who, holding several dozen wires against a grindstone with his left hand and slightly revolving them with his right, was able to point about Ioo,000 needles a day, the number depending, however, to some extent on the size treated. This method, however, is now largely superseded by machinery, which is still more expeditious. The wires are fed out from a hopper to a revolving wheel, on the periphery of which they are held by an india-rubber band. This wheel revolves at ,right angles to a revolving hollow grindstone, and so each wire is brought up to the stone in rapid succession and pointed at one end, the process being repeated for the other end. The next operations are to stamp the grooves which are to be found at the head of a needle and to punch the oval eyes, both being done by automatic machinery. Each wire now forms two needles attached head to head by a broad thin scarf of steel. The operation of separating there is largely per-formed by machines which pass the double blanks over the face of an emery wheel, but an older method is to spit them on two flattened wires, clamp them tightly in a frame
series of gas flames. After the tempering comes the process of scouring, and then the eyes are smoothed and polished so that they will not cut the thread. For this purpose the heads used to be softened by blueing, and the needles strung loosely on wires covered with a paste of emery and oil. These wires were then suspended between uprights on a frame
drawn
Besides ordinary needles for hand sewing, many varieties are made for use in sewing machines, and in their production automatic machinery is largely utilized. Those used for sewing leather have points of various special
NEEDLE-GUN (ZUNDNADELGEWEHR), a military breech-loading rifle, famous as the arm of the Prussians in 1866 and of the Germans in 1870-1871. It was the invention of the gunsmith Johann Nicholas von Dreyse (1787-1867), who, beginning in 1824, had made many experiments, and in 1836 produced the complete needle-gun. From 1841 onwards the new arm was gradually introduced into the Prussian service, and later into the military forces of many other German states. Dreyse was ennobled in 1864. The principal details of the arm (pattern 1841) are as follows: Breech . Bolt system Calibre . . 6o7 in. Weight without bayonet . io lb 4 oz. Charge (black powder) . 74.15 grains Bullet (lead) . 478 grains Muzzle velocity . . low f.s. Sighted to . 800 paces (656 yds.) In practice the needle-gun proved to have numerous defects; its effective range was very short compared to that of the muzzle-loading rifles of the day, and conspicuously so as against the chassepot: the escape of gas at the breech was, moreover, very great. A paper cartridge was used. An improved model, giving greater muzzle velocity and increased speed in loading, was introduced later, but this was soon replaced by the Mauser rifle.End of Article: NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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