Medium chain shop
Interior medium chain shop
Cranking or bending
Knocking down
Scarfing
Laying over
Welding on face of anvil
Finishing the weld on the anvil point
Dollying with the Oliver Hammer
Making chains from about 3/8in (10mm) diameter rod to 1in (25mm) diameter rod was the job of one man, who used a foot operated hammer, the "tommy", to smooth off the weld. This section of the trade was carried out both in factories, usually long narrow buildings with hearths down each side, and in smaller domestic workshops, which contained only one or two hearths.
The chainmakers were paid piecework, and the number of links a chainmaker could make in a given period depended on his skill, the size and quality of the iron and the quality of the fuel. Breeze, the small pieces of coke used as a fuel for chainmaking, sometimes contained dirt and this would build up in the hearth until the burning of the fire was spoiled. The quality of the wrought iron would vary according to the skill of the furnaceman, and the number of times the iron had been rolled prior to use. In the case of 1/2in (12mm) chain, a link could be made every minute, so eight hours work would produce 480 links. This would bring a weekly income of around 25 shillings (125 pence) in 1913.
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| Reference: | 670 |
| Keywords: | |
| Archive Ref: | K. Gale Lib 1994/013/1250 |
| Updated: | Thu 22 Mar 2007 - 1 |
| Interpretation written by | Louis Howe |
| Author's organisation | Curatorial |
| Organisation's website |