Chain Links

This is a guide to doing a Chain Link,

there will be a guide after about joining several chain links

this is just showing you how to do the first link.

1. Start off with a piece of 10mm round about 200mm long, get yourself a good pair of roun bit tongs peferably with a slot up the middle and across the tong so you can hold bar on the side, this will come in handy later.
2. Get a good heat across the entire bar, placing about half way down in the pritchel bend it round to make the initail bend, bend the rest of round with the hammer to form a U shape, it is essentail that it is level.
3. Get another good heat on the ends of the bars, now place the corners onto the egde of anvil so just the very end of bar is on the anvil, about 10 to 20mm.
4. Hammer the corner that is furthest away from you down about the metal thickness, hit it half on half off to get a good step in the metal turn it 25% degrees towards you and hammer down again then turn it a furhter 15% degrees and hammer again. This whole process should only take 3 good placed blows, turn it over and repeat again on other side. If you get to this stage and both of the steps in the metal are looking up at you then you have done this stage wrong, one needs to facing up one facing down. This process is called Scarfing the metal.
5. Bend the two scarfs into a point using the bick to keep it rounded, you want the two scarfs to meet well at the point, knock any over lapping metal back in.
6. THIS IS WHEN IT GETS HOT, crank up your fire and really get it burning in there, you want to have white hot coke surfacing on the top, have your metal on the top with the white coke so you can constantly check the temperature
7. Once the metal has a fluid surface you are about there, keep turning it over and over to stop any air getting into your metal, keep it in there for about 10 seconds constantly rotating it.
8. Bring it out of the fire and give a medium blow each side of the weld on the flat of the anvil, i know its tempting to hit it really hard but trust me you will flatten it out and ruin the weld.
9. Get a half welding heat across the weld for finishing it off, using the bick knock the point out into a curve completing the oval shape. This will show whether your weld has worked, it not then it will break at this point.

              You should have yourself a Chain Link

if you followed these steps.

Tips

• A good pair of tongs makes this job alot easier, i started out with a really bad pair and trust me it wasn't worth the hassle off constantly putting the metal back in the tongs when i could have just gone looking for a better pair.
• Wear a long sleeve shirt and get a pair of gloves for the welding, the fire kicks out some serious heat and it gets really unbearable on your bare arms, remeber your constantly rotating those tongs to keep it moving so your arm is going to be next to that fire for a long time it isn't cool to smell bacon off your own arm.
• Don't be too worried about burning the metal and bringing it out too soon, that welding heat only stays as long as you keep it in the fire soaking that heat. If you keep rotating the metal it wont burn and you will just get more and more heat into it.
• DO NOT DESTROY IT WITH A HEAVY BLOW WHEN YOU BRING IT OUT, IT DOESN'T HELP AND NO ONE THINKS ITS COOL.