Drawing Wire Through a Drawplate — Reducing Iron Rod to Fine Wire

Wire drawing is the process of pulling a metal rod through a series of progressively smaller holes in a hardened steel plate (a drawplate) to reduce its diameter. Known since at least the Viking age and refined in medieval Europe, this technique produces wire of consistent gauge for chainmail, jewellery, pins, needles, musical instrument strings, and countless other uses. The metal is pointed, fed through a hole, gripped with draw tongs, and pulled through with steady force. Between passes the wire is annealed (softened by heating) to prevent it from becoming brittle. This blueprint covers drawing iron wire from a 6 mm rod down to approximately 2 mm — the same method scales to any ductile metal.