Process for manufacturing surgical needles

A method for manufacturing a cutting edge surgical suture needle, comprising:

• providing an open radius die, said open radius die comprising a curved surface terminating in a distal ridge, wherein said curved surface is continuous;
• mounting a plurality of needle blanks to a carrier means, said needle blanks comprising metal wire;
• moving the carrier means and each needle blank successively to the open radius coining die;
• coining each needle blank on the curved surface of the open radius coining die and thereby causing at least part of each needle blank to flow onto the surface of the open radius die such that the flow is unrestrained laterally;
• then moving each needle blank successively to at least one coining die having a cavity and coining each needle blank in each said coining die;
• moving each needle blank to a trimming station and trimming off any excess flash;
• moving each needle blank to at least one additional coining die having a cavity and coining each needle blank in each coining die, thereby forming a surgical suture needle;
• and,
• moving each needle to a curving anvil station and curving each surgical needle wherein the metal wire comprises a metal alloy selected from the group consisting of 300 series stainless steel, 400 series stainless steel and equivalent alloys.