Where our shackles come from!

[Wansworth]

……..la our intensive

 

[Poignard]

 

[DanTribe]

Individualy hand crafted by our skilled workforce.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

An amazing study in productivity, quality, HSE and worker welfare.

“never mind the quality, feel the width.”

 

[veshengro]

I think I'd pass on a job offer involving dunking the shackles in tubs of liquid, whatever it is. Cleaner? /Rust inhibitor? Looks nasty anyway..

 

[Malish]

feeds their families, reflects what we are prepared to pay for the end product ?

 

[Wansworth]

Still interesting how they are made and in what sequence…….dotheymake other sizes…..I used to have a fetish for yacht ironmongery

 

[DanTribe]

I think I'd pass on a job offer involving dunking the shackles in tubs of liquid, whatever it is. Cleaner? /Rust inhibitor? Looks nasty anyway..

The guy with the rubber gloves was the only one wearing any sort of personal protective equipment. What a sissy!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

They didn't show making the pins.

 

[CrossedThreads]

feeds their families, reflects what we are prepared to pay for the end product ?

I’d disagree with the latter part of that statement. I think there’s a huge disparity between what is paid and what the person actually manufacturing the item earns. That disparity comes in the form of huge profits for multi national companies.

Unfortunately the person manufacturing has no access to our relatively lucrative market. If we could buy direct we would pay less than half the price and the person actually doing the manufacturing would still earn double the amount.

 

[Malish]

I’d disagree with the latter part of that statement. I think there’s a huge disparity between what is paid and what the person actually manufacturing the item earns. That disparity comes in the form of huge profits for multi national companies.

Unfortunately the person manufacturing has no access to our relatively lucrative market. If we could buy direct we would pay less than half the price and the person actually doing the manufacturing would still earn double the amount.

that's capitalism for you...

 

[Rum Run]

Probably a safer work environment than that enjoyed by the Black Country chainmakers in their heyday. Also the chemicals part of that video does not seem much different to the plating company that I use in the Midlands now.

 

[jamie N]

FT headline on Monday: "Soft Shackles Sales Soar".

 

[mjcoon]

I’d disagree with the latter part of that statement. I think there’s a huge disparity between what is paid and what the person actually manufacturing the item earns. That disparity comes in the form of huge profits for multi national companies.

Unfortunately the person manufacturing has no access to our relatively lucrative market. If we could buy direct we would pay less than half the price and the person actually doing the manufacturing would still earn double the amount.

And then you get Elon Musk asserting that his sophisticated robots will eliminate poverty. Has he got a real economist to explain the mechanism, or published an explanation in a peer-reviewed journal?

 

[westhinder]

And then you get Elon Musk asserting that his sophisticated robots will eliminate poverty. Has he got a real economist to explain the mechanism, or published an explanation in a peer-reviewed journal?

Peer-reviewed by the likes of Jeff Bezos or Larry Ellison?

 

[mjcoon]

Peer-reviewed by the likes of Jeff Bezos or Larry Ellison?

I suppose they would not peer too closely!

 

[ducked]

They didn't show making the pins.

Probably Chinese, then.

 

[Neeves]

Underlines the recommendation to buy your anchor shackle stamped with WLL the manufacturers name, Crosby, Peerless, Campbell, Yoke and if yup have a big yacht, Van Beest.

You want your anchor shackle to be specified as a Grade B shackle (A 3/8th" Grade B shackle will have a WLL of 2t, metric, and a safety factor of 5 or 6 to 1.

2t seems far too 'good' when you 8mm chain has a WLL of 750 kg (4 : 1 safety factor) but if your shackle locks up and is side loaded that 2t WLL can reduce to 1t (I've tested it). Most shackles you see in chandlers will be 3/8th" WLL 1t (that's 500kg - side loaded). Compared to the cost of your chain the shackle costs peanuts (and you can buy Crosby shackles in the UK, easily.). You really don't want your shackle to be the weak link. If your shackle is stamped Halfords - it will be excellent to restrain your pet dog.

If your shackle has no name nor WLL it is probably made in a factory like the one in the video. I actually stood on a street in HK where an operator with a set of dies and a big hammer was embossing shackles with the word 'Van Beest' - I did not have the courage to take a picture. Van Beest Green Pin shackles are good, Grade B, but they do not make small enough product for most leisure yacht owners.

Hammerlocks make good substitutes for shackles. But they tend to be sold ungalvanised but can be bought as G100 components (Grade B shackles are a G80 quality). They are inconvenient to use.


Don't knock chain from China, most anchor chain is now made in China and increasing quantities of high tensile chain is now sourced there, often embossed with a well known 'western' chain makers name (who buy the product) and sell it as their own. China supplies G30 through to G100, I have not see G120 .......yet. CMP's (they make the Rocna anchors) Titan branded chain is made in China along with their high tensile shackles (I don't endorse the latter but samples of their chain I have tested have met specification)

Jonathan

 

[rogerthebodger]

Underlines the recommendation to buy your anchor shackle stamped with WLL the manufacturers name, Crosby, Peerless, Campbell, Yoke and if yup have a big yacht, Van Beest.

You want your anchor shackle to be specified as a Grade B shackle (A 3/8th" Grade B shackle will have a WLL of 2t, metric, and a safety factor of 5 or 6 to 1.

2t seems far too 'good' when you 8mm chain has a WLL of 750 kg (4 : 1 safety factor) but if your shackle locks up and is side loaded that 2t WLL can reduce to 1t (I've tested it). Most shackles you see in chandlers will be 3/8th" WLL 1t (that's 500kg - side loaded). Compared to the cost of your chain the shackle costs peanuts (and you can buy Crosby shackles in the UK, easily.). You really don't want your shackle to be the weak link. If your shackle is stamped Halfords - it will be excellent to restrain your pet dog.

If your shackle has no name nor WLL it is probably made in a factory like the one in the video. I actually stood on a street in HK where an operator with a set of dies and a big hammer was embossing shackles with the word 'Van Beest' - I did not have the courage to take a picture. Van Beest Green Pin shackles are good, Grade B, but they do not make small enough product for most leisure yacht owners.

Hammerlocks make good substitutes for shackles. But they tend to be sold ungalvanised but can be bought as G100 components (Grade B shackles are a G80 quality). They are inconvenient to use.


Don't knock chain from China, most anchor chain is now made in China and increasing quantities of high tensile chain is now sourced there, often embossed with a well known 'western' chain makers name (who buy the product) and sell it as their own. China supplies G30 through to G100, I have not see G120 .......yet. CMP's (they make the Rocna anchors) Titan branded chain is made in China along with their high tensile shackles (I don't endorse the latter but samples of their chain I have tested have met specification)

Jonathan

This demonstrates that you cannot rely on the name or wll stamped of the product the only way is to test the product to the required specification.

This is not possible for most of us pleasure boat sailors

 

[Poignard]

One thing you can do is to have a good look at the shackle.

Which is what I should have done with the one I illustrated in post #2. It had a crack more than a 2/3 way across a leg.

I broke it easily using two pairs of pliers.