Link bending machine

About the sound

The electric link bending machine made in 1939 by the manufacturer Malmedie & Co., produces single chain links.
First, a wire is unwound from a coil and set between the straightening rollers (removal of deformation of the wire due to winding on the coil). Then it is delivered by a transport slide to the bending device. There it is cut and bent into a chain link in such a way that leaves both ends of the link separated only by a small gap.
The sounds of this process consist of the electric motor, the mechanical bending and the impact of the links striking against each other.
The next step in the production is the electric welding where the “U” shaped “pins” are welded into closed chain links.
Today this machine is in use exclusively for show purposes. It is currently displayed in the Chain Forge Museum in Fröndenberg (Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia), where the manual and industrial manufacturing of chains are exhibited.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke