RARE BARBED WIRE SPLICE

This rare two line splice on a Chester A. Hodge spur rowel wire was a gift from my friend and mentor Travis Nichols of Dallas, Texas.

Splices would not pass through the barbing machines so it was necessary to stop the machines and manually splice the wire when they came to the end of a roll. Single line splices are more common. In general there was at least one splice in each roll of wire produced. Splices of this type were eliminated with the invention of an electric welder for wire in 1893 by another noted barbed fencing inventor, John D. Curtis. The barbing machines no longer had to be stopped to splice the wire and barbed wire production increased dramatically.