Forging Anchor Chain

[NOBLNG]

Went down a rabbit hole and found this. Apparently the USS Gerald R Ford has a chain that is 1440 feet long.🤯

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's some serious hardware there, mister.  

But...gee whiz...wasn't there a time when America made stuff like this day-in, day-out, no big deal?

It seems I remember that world, somewhere in the dim recesses of the past...  

 

Edited August 15 by Ace-Garageguy

[bobss396]

That takes up some serious electric power 🔌. Looks like all was done by induction welding. 

[espo]

Great job in the winter months, might be a little uncomfortable working in those conditions in the summer. 

[meechum68]

Love this stuff! And over a quarter mile of chain.. damn!!

 

[bobss396]

And to think that ships have used massive chains for at least 100 years. I'd like to see how they were done back then.

[NOBLNG]

2 hours ago, bobss396 said:

And to think that ships have used massive chains for at least 100 years. I'd like to see how they were done back then.

The outfits that certify these chains, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has been around since 1862, and Lloyds Register (LR) was founded in 1760. I too wonder how they were made back in the 1700’s? They certainly weren’t this massive, but they also didn’t have any hydraulic equipment then either.

https://www.solarnavigator.net/anchor_chain.htm

 

Edited August 16 by NOBLNG

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

I too wonder how they were made back in the 1700’s? They certainly weren’t this massive, but they also didn’t have any hydraulic equipment then either.

Kindof amazing that there was once a civilization on Earth that could actually make stuff out of iron with not much more than an open forge, an anvil, and some hammers.

[slusher]

We didn’t make boat chain we made master links for slings bigger than the boat chain. Our biggest link was 1 1/25 8 pounds per link..  I worked in quality in testing..  Thanks for posting.