338 CHARLES M. KARCH 



carrying the needles across, so that the ends of the shanks are 

 aHgned against a fence, and forward, so that the points are 

 presented to a cutter which trims all to a uniform length. 

 After passing the cutter each needle is struck by a die that 

 stamps upon its shank the descriptive number. The other 

 processes involved in this method of needle manufacture are 

 similar to those described in the first method. 



Since the invention of automatic machines for the 

 different processes, the mechanism employed has been so 

 combined as to effect a transfer of the blank from one opera- 

 tion to the next without the intervention of hand labor. In 

 such combination of machinery there has been marked de- 

 velopment during the past fifteen years, and the industry 

 has fully kept pace with the progress of other wireworking 

 processes. 



