The wire drawing process is quite simple in concept. The wire is prepared by shrinking the beginning of it, by hammering, filing, rolling or swaging, so that it will fit through the mould; the wire is then pulled through the mould. As the wire is pulled through the mould, its volume remains the same, so as the diameter decreases, the length increases. Usually the wire will require more than one draw, through successively smaller moulds, to reach the desired size.

 The American wire gauge scale is based on this. This can be done on a small scale with a draw plate, or on a large commercial scale using automated machinery. The process of wire drawing improves material properties due to cold working.

The areal reductions of small wires are 15–25% and larger wires are 20–45%.Very fine wires are usually drawn in bundles. In a bundle, the wires are separated by a metal with similar properties, but with lower chemical resistance so that it can be removed after drawing.[citation needed] If the reduction in diameter is greater than 50%, the process may require annealing between the process of drawing the wire through the dies. Commercial wire drawing usually starts with a coil of hot rolled 9 mm (0.35 in) diameter wire. The surface is first treated to remove scales. It is then fed into either a single block or continuous wire drawing machine.