I can watch this over and over - Making Chain

[john]

Maybe I should get out a bit more.....

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...oXNOv4/w469-h376/A+machine+making+a+chain.gif

 

[Simes]

Nah, I just sat and watched it for 5 minutes. Addictive, I wonder why?

 

[Murv]

Mesmerising!!

 

[bert49uk]

Reminds me of those old interlude on the tv

 

[NickRobinson]

The moderators should delete chain letters......

N

 

[sailorman]

The moderators should delete chain letters......

N

This is French chain

 

[earlybird]

Reminds me of those old interlude on the tv

Some years ago, at the Black Country Museum, I watched a blacksmith making chain by hand, using only a hammer and tongs IIRC. He worked in a very rhythmic way. Not as fast as this machine, but surprisingly quick all the same.
Shaping the link and welding was all one operation. Looked good quality chain.

 

[chrisbitz]

It's staggering to think of the forces involved - if you were to hold some of that rod in a huge vice and smack it wiith a sledgehammer, you'd need a few hits to start it bending, and that machine bends it perfectly like it's plasticine!

 

[vyv_cox]

It's staggering to think of the forces involved - if you were to hold some of that rod in a huge vice and smack it wiith a sledgehammer, you'd need a few hits to start it bending, and that machine bends it perfectly like it's plasticine!

The wire used for chain making is extremely ductile and quite low strength. If you try the weld test shown on my website at the bottom of this page http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Chaindefinitions.aspx you will find that 8 mm chain can be bent easily using a 10 inch adjustable spanner. Chain up to 12 mm is made using these machines, which would clearly require a bit more force, but nowhere near as much as you might think.

 

[bigwow]

The wire used for chain making is extremely ductile and quite low strength. If you try the weld test shown on my website at the bottom of this page http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Chaindefinitions.aspx you will find that 8 mm chain can be bent easily using a 10 inch adjustable spanner. Chain up to 12 mm is made using these machines, which would clearly require a bit more force, but nowhere near as much as you might think.

You are worrying me now, I'll never sleep soundly at anchor again.

 

[vyv_cox]

You are worrying me now, I'll never sleep soundly at anchor again.

It takes 4 tons (usually) to break it though! If my (or your) deck cleats would hold a quarter of that I would be extremely surprised. Not to mention the hold of the anchor in the bottom, but that's for another thread.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I too found it addictive! But how is the chain welded? This loop only shows the links being formed, not welded.

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

What intrigues me about this is; what is there about this process, regarding cost of production, that requires it to be done only in China?

 

[TangaraToo]

I too found it addictive! But how is the chain welded? This loop only shows the links being formed, not welded.

The ful version. Welding around 3:40 in to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzLmKmmMwc

 

[Roberto]

here the full version


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1STTDTVlJI



too late
well, it's not the same video

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The ful version. Welding around 3:40 in to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzLmKmmMwc

Brilliant! I can see why it is made in China - H&S precautions looked to be pretty much non-existent; no safety guards or anything. But an amazing bit of automated production.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Some years ago, at the Black Country Museum, I watched a blacksmith making chain by hand, using only a hammer and tongs IIRC. He worked in a very rhythmic way. Not as fast as this machine, but surprisingly quick all the same.
Shaping the link and welding was all one operation. Looked good quality chain.

In Ye Olde Days, Black Country chain makers were mainly women; it's the only area of manual engineering work which has been dominated by women in that way. I'm told that they had the reputation of being the hardest-drinking, toughest bunch of people, men or women, around.

 

[TimBennet]

I too found it addictive! But how is the chain welded?

How is it welded? The answer would be 'badly' if it was made in Italy.

I bought a test length of 8mm chain from a well known marine wholesaler who said he only stocked high class Italian chain and wouldn't stock any '**** made in China'. But when I tested the welded links (similar to Viv's bend test) every weld broke with the lightest tap of a 'toffee hammer'.

I didn't buy a full length from him! But I presume lots of people have and dozens of boats in the West Country must think they have 'high class chain' in their anchor lockers.

 

[vyv_cox]

Brilliant! I can see why it is made in China - H&S precautions looked to be pretty much non-existent; no safety guards or anything. But an amazing bit of automated production.

These video clips have been around for some time now so may not be totally representative of current production. I am informed that most Chinese chain manufacturing equipment today is German, installed recently and maintained by German technicians. I think the reason that Chinese chain was so good in my latest destructive testing exercise is that it is made from a construction steel, of which there is a vast amount in China, as opposed to the minimum specification dead mild steel that is perhaps quite difficult to source.

I find it intriguing that when the weld current is applied it chooses to form an arc at the joint rather than go around the wire and short out the supply!

 

[JumbleDuck]

I find it intriguing that when the weld current is applied it chooses to form an arc at the joint rather than go around the wire and short out the supply!

The plasma in arcs has a very low resistance, so once the arc is struck the long way round through the link will be the high resistance route. This, by the way, is why incandescent light bulbs have a fuse built into them: when they go phut the arc along the path of the vaporised filament can draw very high currents.