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Two drawplates for different wire gauge.
Drawing silver wire by hand pulling.
A draw plate, or "drawing die", is type of die consisting of metal plate with one or more holes through which wire is drawn to make it thinner. With a mandrel, and draw plate can be used to draw tubes of metal. Plates are available in many different sizes and shapes for drawing different shapes of wire, including round, square, oval, half-round and hexagonal. The plate has rows of holes drilled through it which are slightly wider at the back.
[edit] Drawing wire
When drawing, the plate is held securely in a vise or other fixture. Annealed wire is filed at one end to give it an initial taper. The tapered end is inserted into a hole with a final diameter just smaller than its current width. Pliers, draw tongs are used to hold the tip of the wire and pull it through, sometimes with the aid of grease or wax as a lubricant. Wire up can be pulled by hand for small diameters of wire, while very thick wire may require a drawing bench with a crank. The wire can be drawn about three times in a row before it needs to be re-annealed. Otherwise it will break because it becomes too brittle.
Draw plates reduce metal thickness by reshaping the metal, increasing length while decreasing diameter. As such, a piece of wire will be considerably lengthened during the process. While drawing the wire gets warm which is the energy used by the drawing.
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