The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-05-27
MAKING A CHAIN.
The Big Ones and the Heavy Ca
bles Are of Wrought Iron.
SOFT STEEL FOR SMALL ONES.

The Larger Sizes Are All Hand Forged, |
and In This Work the Metal Must
Be of Precisely the Right Heat and
the Blows Quick and Sure.
The great bulk of chains, including |
all cable and mooring chains, are sold
by the pound. The price ranges from
31a to II cents a pound. according to
the size, material and quality.
All cables and other very heavy
chains are made of wrought iron, and
there are made wrought iron chains of
all sizes down to and including chains
of material a quarter Of an inch in
diameter, but nowadays most of the
chain used in comparatively smaller
sizes is made of soft steel, such chain
being made in sizes ranging by six
teenths from three-slxteenths of an
inch to an inch and a quarter.
When the size Of chain is referred
to by those familiar with chains, it
always means not the link, but the
material used in it Thus a one inch
chain would be made of one inch steel
or iron. The completed link would be
about five or six times as long and
about three and half times as wide
across as the thickness of the material
of which it was made.
In other days all chains was hand
made but the modern chain is of soft
| steel and machine made. There is
| taken a long bar of steel. which Is bent
! cold around a mandril that is oval In
| shape. The bar is thus bent into what
looks like spiral spring with its coils
not round but oblong. This spiral is
| cut up cold in cutting machine, which
cuts it into as many parts as there are
coils, each Of these being the material
| for q link, and at the same time the
| machine spreads each of these sections
apart q little at the opening and cuts
| on each of the two free ends long
scarf or bevel and bends the ends over
within the opening.
This bent piece of steel is now in
shape roughly speaking, like letter
q with rather long arms and with its
two ends bent over inward 1t needs
only to have those scarved ends weld
ed together to make it link of chain.
The chainmaker sits at a foot Oper-
ated power hammer, with forge be-
side him, in which he heats the open
links.
He takes from the fire link suitably
heated and hooks it into the chain as
far as completed and then pinches the
open ends of the new link together IN
der the hammer, and with three OF
four quick blows he Yields the link to
gether When be takes hot link
from the fire he puts cold one in. and
so he continues to work 1t is alto
gether a quick and more economical
process of manufacture than hand
forging, but it has not yet been adapt
ed to chains Of the larger sizes.
There are wrought iron chains OF
some sizes that are machine made, but
all wrought chains of material above
an inch and quarter in diameter are
hand forged
OF whatever size the big chain is tt
be the workmen cut up the iron bars
into straight lengths, each suitable t.
be made into a link. This length Of
iron is heated. one end at a time, anC
one after the other the ends are ham
mered down by hand on an anvil tt
shape the scarves or bevels Their
this straight piece of heavy wrought
iron with scarved ends Is swaged into
link form. and if 1t is to be a stud Of
bar chain there is placed within tht
link before it Is welded together the
stud or bar. This Is stout little bal
of cast iron, with its ends rounded in
conceived to fit the rounding surface
of the link iron. the stud being placed
across the link inside of it and mid
way of Its length
Once in place and the link pincheC
together on its ends the stud could no
be got out except by breaking 1t on
with a sledge Its purpose Is to pre-
vent the links from drawing togethe
at their sides and wedging nnde
heavy strains. In stud chain ther'
Is a stud in every link.
With this stud In place and the linl
beat to shape with the scarves over
tapping. the link is again put in th'
fire to be finally heated for the weld
ing, which is done by hand 1t take
blacksmith to handle 1t and on BIZ
chains two or three helpers striking
with sledges to do the welding. TIL
iron must be of precisely the RICH
heat, and the blows must be qnicl
and sure to complete the work perfect
ly before the iron cools.
Stud chain is sometimes made o
iron as small as 6ve-eighths of al
inch in diameter From that the irnl
used runs through various diameter
up to three inches and more tbre
inch chain makes tremendous cable
suitable for FIVE ton anchor. Har
per's Weekly.