CHAIN MAKING IN THE BLACK COUNTRY

by Ron Moss ISBN 0 952662 70 1
available from Norm Larson Books larbooks@impulse.net for $7.95 plus S&H

Extremely interesting, compact and inexpensive book on chain making in a 2
mile square section of England. The book is well illustrated with photographs and maps, and includes the measured diagram of a treadle hammer devise known as a "Tommy Hammer" and drawings of its use in fullering chain.
Moss covers the history of this important industry from its beginnings in the late 18th century and carries that development into the present. This small area of England produced the majority of the chain used in the British Empire for over a century.

Surprisingly a large number of the chain makers were women, working in shops attached to their homes.
The way that the peculiar attachments to chain anvils were used was a welcome education to me: I had puzzled over those strange pieces of equipment for years when I ran into them in catalogues or occasionally junk shops.

I strongly recommend this book as an addition to any smith's library. It is well written,
contains a lot of information which suggests techniques useful in other areas on metal work, and is a small investment for the return. These small books have a way of disappearing off of the market after one edition, and ten years from now you will be trying to borrow the one I have, and I will probably expect "blood" for lending it to you.