12/19/2023 0 Comments Barbed wire1 Iron ore, coke, and limestone are heated in a blast furnace by hot pressurized air.The Manufacturing Process Making steel ingots Sometimes the steel is coated with aluminum, and occasionally the barbed wire itself is made of aluminum. To prevent rusting, the steel wire is usually coated with zinc. The raw materials required to manufacture steel are iron ore, coke (a carbon-rich substance produced by heating coal to a high temperature in the absence of air), and limestone. Raw Materialsīarbed wire is usually made of steel, which is an alloy of iron and a small amount of carbon. Hundreds of collectorsĪttend the annual Barbed Wire Festival in La Crosse, Kansas, home of the Barbed Wire Museum. Many people collect antique barbed wire, with some rare specimens selling for hundreds of dollars. Although barbed wire is often used for security, agriculture still accounts for 90% of its use. Eventually the conflict subsided when it became clear that barbed wire was becoming necessary as humans and cattle increased in number.īarbed wire was adapted for military use during the Boer War and used in enormous quantities during World War I. Conflicts between ranchers who wanted unfenced pastures and farmers who wanted fenced croplands escalated into fence-cutting, land-grabbing, and violent range wars. In the severe winters of 87 thousands of cattle froze to death when they were unable to break through barbed wire "drift fences" intended to keep them from straying too far south. The use of barbed wire increased tremendously in the 1870s and 1880s, with some unfortunate side effects. After twenty years of legal battles, the United States Supreme Court decided in Glidden's favor, and he is often thought of as the "inventor" of barbed wire. Similar patents were filed that same year by Jacob Haish and Leonard Ellwood, both also of DeKalb. In 1868 Michael Kelly invented the first double-stranded barbed wire, but the first commercially successful barbed wire was patented by Joseph Farwell Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, in 1874. That same year Lucien Smith and William Hunt received patents for single-stranded wire with barbs. In 1860, Frenchman Leonce Eugene Grassin-Baledans patented the use of twisted strands of sheet metal with projecting points as a "fence protector." A similar method was patented in the United States in 1867 by Alphonso Dabb. Early wire fences consisted of single strands which were easily broken in cold weather or by wandering cattle. Steel wire was first used for fencing during the settling of the American West in areas where wood was scarce. By 1870 improvements in steelmaking made it possible to produce large amounts of steel wire for the first time. In modern times, until the middle of the 19th century, most wire was made from wrought iron. By the year 1000, longer lengths of wire were made by pulling rods of soft metal, such as alloys of lead and tin, through a die of harder metal, such as iron. Short lengths of wire were first made at least 5,000 years ago by hammering pliable metals such as gold. Metal was not used for fencing until steel wire became available in the 19th century. Fences have been built from wood, earth, stone, and living plants (hedges in Europe and cactus in Latin America). The sharp points, called barbs, usually consist of short pieces of wire twisted around one or both of the cable wires.įences of various kinds have been used since the earliest days of agriculture 10,000 years ago. The cable usually consists of two wires twisted around each other to add strength and to allow the cable to expand and contract with temperature changes without breaking. Barbed wire is a fencing material consisting of a metal cable with regularly spaced sharp projections.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |