Chain smith
A chain smith was a special profession in the blacksmith's trade until the beginning of the twentieth century .
Activity and specialization
Chain smiths specialized in the production of various types of iron link chains , which were intended for well and anchor winches , for drawbridges , for ship and anchor chains , for wagon and pulling harnesses, for blocking roads and rivers and for securing prisoners. To manufacture chains, round iron bars are heated in a forge fire at 1200 ° C. These are then forged into a ring on the round horn of the anvil , in order then to be fire-welded in an already finished link . Small chain rings are bent round on the anvil cone, an insert tool .
To smooth the chains, they were turned in so-called roller barrels so that they were bare when they hit one another. In some cases, greasy pieces of leather or tallow were added during this work step in order to achieve at least limited rust protection. Anchor chains were also dipped in hot tar or pitch for this purpose . The oldest handicraft manufacturing processes handed down in this way are over 6000 years old, the oldest chains that have been found and welded in the fire over 2800 years (anchor chains from Dur Šarrukin in today's Iraq ).
The end of the job
In the middle of the 19th century, the chains that had been made at home up to this point were increasingly manufactured in factories, where at the beginning steam engine-driven hammers were used, the efficiency of which put the manual production of chains under pressure. In the years that followed, production became more and more mechanized and the traditional profession of chain smith disappeared. Today chains are made purely industrially.
Footnotes and sources
- ↑ These processes have practically disappeared today because they have been replaced by galvanizing and hot-dip galvanizing
- ↑ A few chain smiths have survived to this day; however, their chains are mainly used for decorative or documentary purposes. Museums such as the small chain forging museum Sichtigvor in Warstein or the chain forging museum in Fröndenberg provide an insight into the activities of this profession to this day.