Material. Mild steel, 8 mm in diameter, 220 mm long.
Additional tools. 8-mm bottom swage; set hammer.
METHOD
Cut off 220 mm of rod and mark as shown in Fig. 58. Heat from the end to beyond the mark to near-welding heat and place on the anvil as in Fig. 59. Hammer down to half the thickness, leaving a prominent shoulder. The hammer face must overlap the anvil edge during the first few blows.
Turn 90 degrees and reduce the thickness to a little less than the original 8 mm, leaving a rectangular section. Reheat if necessary. Place in the bottom swage with the shoulder uppermost. Place the set hammer with an edge against the shoulder and its face parallel with the face of the swage.
The set hammer is now struck with the sledgehammer, lightly at first to settle the work into position. Hammer blows are continued while the job is drawn through the swage toward the smith. This operation will give a distinct half-round section to this part of the job. While still hot, this end is bent over the beak to the shape shown in Fig. 58C. Twisting may occur during this bending operation. This should be corrected as soon as it becomes obvious by applying light hammer blows while the flat face of the work is in contact with the face of the anvil, but with the shoulder clear of the anvil edge. Positions of swage, work, set hammer and sledgehammer are shown in Fig. 60.
The opposite end of the job is now worked in a manner similar to the first, with care being taken to ensure that the shoulders are on opposite sides of the workpiece. When both ends are forged, the centre is heated to a red heat and bent over the block to the shape shown in Fig. 58D. The job can now be heated to a red heat all over and trued up. Open the link by twisting to give the side appearance shown in Fig. 58E
