I have a netting needle (top) that I have been using for years for fine mesh net making.  I bought it many years ago at a New England maritime museum.  It is useful but it always looked too machine made to me. 
   At the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival (where I display my Pa Dutch fishing nets) this past weekend I found a blacksmith who said he could copy the needle.  He rummaged in his junk box and found a coil of wire that he straightened on his anvil and cut it to length with a chisel.
   I wish I could have watched him do his work but I had to get back to my "fish nets" display.
   Less than an hour later He showed up at my stand with his creation (bottom).  It was better looking than I had hoped.  It has none of the stamped out looks of the original.  I gave him a large onion/potato storage bag i had made.  We were both pleased with the exchange.

vetryan15 wrote on Aug 14^th, 2017 at 4:59pm:

The needle has to be able to pass through the triangular cross section of each square of the net.  I need a narrow needle to make the small mesh funnel of minnow traps like this

vetryan15 wrote on Aug 15^th, 2017 at 1:40pm:



Agreed.

Thanks