How paperclips are made
The classic clip is one bent wire, folded one and a half times, and it was never patented.
- stations
- 5
- things upstream
- 68
- raw sources
- 20
- steps from the ground
- 10
The short version
Clip machines feed coiled steel wire through straightening rollers and a cutter, then bend it around dies. In one patented design, cut wires are held by magnets on a moving belt and handed to a turning set of forming dies, where rams bend each piece three times. Finished clips drop out and a counter sends a set number to each box.
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Straighten the coil
Wire comes off a coil with a curve in it. Rollers take out the bend before any forming starts, since tension or curl in the wire makes the clip's size hard to control.
Goes in -
Snip each length
A cutter severs a length for one clip. In one patented Gem machine, the blade first cuts only partway so the wire stays gripped while the first loops form, then finishes the cut.
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Line up on magnets
In a higher-speed patented design, cut pieces land on a belt fitted with magnets at regular intervals. A chain and toothed wheels pass them along, and a second set of magnets hands each one to the forming station facing the right way.
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Bend the loops
Rams push the wire around segmented rings on three turning annular dies, or around spindles in older machines. Each station adds a bend until the flat double loop is complete. Several clips form per cycle in the newer design, where earlier machines made one at a time.
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Count into boxes
The finished clips fall out of the dies. A counter on the machine deposits a set number into each box before it is closed.
Goes in
Worth repeating
- A regular metal paper clip weighs about a gram.
- The Gem design, the most common clip still in use, was never patented.
- Johan Vaaler of Norway, often credited as the inventor, patented a clip that lacked the second full loop and was harder to use.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and paperclip starts as these 20 raw sources.
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Sources
- US4434818A: Wire feeding and wire forming device for paper clip making machine
- US2297156A: Machine for making Gem paper clips
- Paper clip
Cite this page: "How paperclips are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/paperclip