André Gall, founder of German firm WireStyle, uses in-house developed machines to create works of art based on a photo or graphic using an average of 8000 nails and a long thread. The machines hammer 12 nails into a polystyrene sheet every second to create a canvas for the thread picture. Each nail is cut from a reel of aluminium wire by a pair of indexable carbide inserts from Horn’s S274 tool system.

WireStyle’s machines create a picture by a single thread measuring around 1200 m. To determine the exact path as winding around the nails takes place, the company’s team developed complex algorithms to identify and enhance the contrasting edges in the original image and calculate the individual nail pattern. More thread is used in the darker parts of the picture than in the lighter areas and the reproduction is better and less expensive than would ever be possible by hand.

Gall studied physics at the University of Karlsruhe and has always held an interest in mechanical and production engineering. He built the first prototypes of the nail and thread machines and WireStyle was born.

To make thread paintings affordable for customers, the machines have to operate at high speed. Due to rapid acceleration at up to 5 g, Gall favoured lightweight construction and employed lots of carbon fibre. The machine stretches about 50 cm of thread per second around the nails. During the process, the eye is barely able to follow the thread puller.

Two opposing S274 inserts from Horn clamp into the nailing head of a WireStyle machine. Precise cutting of the wire arrives courtesy of the sharpness of the inserts, which feature a small wedge angle.

For further information www.phorn.co.uk