[TheForge] Making needles?

Tue Oct 15 11:24:22 EDT 2013

Thanks for the links, but those places are wholesale-to-the-trade only.  At
best, I'd have to work through a shoe repair place, which is possible, but
adds expense.

I think you missed my point.  I don't need a perfect, commercial-quality
needle.  A completely serviceable awl needle could be made from any spring
wire.  For that matter, a serviceable needle could be made from a nail --
but why bother?

The problem is punching the eye without using elaborate jigs or dies.  I
was hoping for some simple method, much like one sometimes sees (for other
tasks) at demos by experts, but perhaps there just isn't one.

On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Ries Niemi <ries at riesniemi.com> wrote:

> I have been using a sewing awl since about 1968.
> And in that time, I think I have gone thru two needles.
> Guess I just have a light touch. So, for me, five bucks doesnt sound like
> a fortune.
>
> If it were me, I would buy and modify commercial needles- easy to cut them
> with a cut disc, on a grinder or a dremel. All the hard work is done that
> way.
> It sounds like you have looked at standard, home sewing machine needles,
> instead of heavier industrial needles- have you considered someplace like
> this?
> http://www.pilgrimshoemachine.com/replacement_parts.html
>
> the problem I see with making them is that, in small quantities, the home
> made ones are usually inferior AND more expensive- because you arent buying
> the ideal alloy of steel by the truck load, you are usually using inferior
> steel, or else paying a very high price for it. You arent using gigantic
> machines custom made to do the process, and you arent using controlled heat
> treating, or polishing.
>
> I would think these guys would have something that would work, or know who
> does-
> http://www.kaufmanshoe.com/
> or these guys-
>
> http://www.labellesupply.com/prodlist.asp?Serviceid=2&ProductId=28&CategoryId=236
>
> to actually forge these, you would need to work them long, in my opinion,
> and build a pretty precise jig to hold the blank in place while you punched
> it.
> I would make the jig on my milling machine, myself- it would need to be
> machining level accuracy. Using a tiny ball end mill, I would mill a slot,
> and probably have a clamp on the waste end of the material to hold it in
> place, then have a registration guide that also clamped on for the punching.
> There would definitely be some trial and error, could take some work to
> get the punching jig just  right.
> You could clamp two blocks and drill, but you would then get a
> cylindirical hole- with a milling machine, and light passes, stepped, you
> could make the end taper, and, of course, it would be straighter. A drill
> will want to wander a bit.
>
> ries
>
>
> On Oct 15, 2013, at 5:57 AM, Bruce . wrote:
>
> > Bob -
> >
> > You tell us you make needles (albeit very big ones) but don't tell us
> HOW!
> > Please share the info.  I t might just be exactly what I'm looking for!
> >
> > Thanks for the suggesting on polishing.  That might help. I resharpened
> my
> > cut-off needle on a fine grinding wheel, and thought ahead enough to
> leave
> > the "scratches" lengthwise, but I didn't think to polish it.  And the
> > reason NOT to cut off sewing-awl needles is twofold -- price is one and
> the
> > shape of the resulting base is another.
> >
> > BTW, it sounds like you did a patent search at the USPTO website.
>  That's a
> > useful tool, but you can often do better using the Google patent search,
> > which will search foreign patents as well.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 10:53 AM, Bob Ehrenberger <eforge at centurytel.net
> >wrote:
> >
> >> ---Original Message----
> >>
> >> Subject: [TheForge] Making needles?
> >> I need a few needles of dimensions I can't find commercially.  The
> >> application is a sewing pliers (US Patent 1,352,508).  I have one of
> these
> >> pliers and it's great for repairing those damned silly running shoes you
> >> can't seem to avoid these past forty or so years.
> >>
> >> The needle needs to be about 1" long, maybe 1.25", "heavy" thickness
> >> (equivalent to a #8 Tandy sewing-awl needle).  Therein lies the rub --
> >> cutting off the commercial needle to an appropriate length gives a
> needle
> >> that isn't quite appropriate for mounting in the sewing pliers.  I have
> >> done this and it can be made to work, but such commercial needles are
> not
> >> cheap and I'd prefer to make my own than to pay the price for what ends
> up
> >> being a second-rate needle.
> >>
> >> ----Reply-----
> >>
> >> I don't do a lot of patent searches and was a little surprised when it
> >> couldn't find the patent even though I had the number. When I went to
> add
> >> the subject to the search I discovered that the search engine defaulted
> to
> >> starting at 1976. Once I told it to search all, it found it.
> >>
> >> On the original topic, I do make sewing needles, but I make big ones for
> >> sewing brooms. The early ones were just flat stock 1/4x1/16 with a
> taper on
> >> the end and a 1/8" hole.  Later I demoed at an event next to a broom
> maker
> >> and he asked me to make him some needles and gave my one for a pattern.
> >> These were heavier 1/4x3/16x6 and tapered at both ends all the way to
> the
> >> middle with the hole in the middle. They feel better in the hand and
> with
> >> the hole in the middle are faster to use.
> >>
> >> Sorry, it doesn't help with your current problem.  I think Frosty's
> idea of
> >> shortening an awl needle should work.  One of the problem with hand made
> >> needles besides the heat treat, is they really need to be polished to
> work
> >> right.
> >>
> >> Robert Ehrenberger
> >> Shelbyville, Mo.
> >> eforge at centurytel.net
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Bruce
> > NJ
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-- 
Bruce
NJ