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Ten Rules to Date a Chain
1. Most 33-foot or two pole chains date before about 1810.
2. Most chains with wire handles date before 1800.
3. (Chains made before 1800 most likely have three rings between each link.
4. (Chains made after 1800 will have two rings between each link.
5. Some chains made between 1880 and 1920 have only one ring, and a few, like the Grumman, had no rings between the links.
a. (Chains made before 1800 most likely will have the loops on the end of each link bent in opposite directions.
7. Most chains made before 1850 will not have the links and rings braised or soldered shut, required after about l855?ÿby the GLO( General Land Office).
8. Chains made after 1800 will have cast brass handles.
9. Almost all chains made after 1855 will be four poles or 66' long.
10). in about 1880 chains were made ,with 100 one-foot links, called an engineers chain (the least valuable of antique chains).
English Chesterman Chain on my bookcase, 66?? Surveyor??s?ÿ
Chesterman were based in Sheffield, England. They merged with Rabone of Birmingham, England in 1963 to form Rabone Chesterman.
Chain is very similar to the one I used on my first employment in 1969. The tallies ran from 1 to 4 from each end, so you had to be very careful not to record 4 (40ft) when it should have been 4(100-40 ft). 1,2 and 3 weren't a problem unless you were hopeless at estimating distance
@brad-ott, thanks for the spreadsheet software, it has been a bear for 25 years of files.
Had to start somewhere.
Thanks again and be safe
Seriously, sometimes I can be a dick. ?ÿIt is one of my many super powers.
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LOL. I too have that superpower. Sometimes I dont even know I am using it!
I had one at one time, but sold it several years ago. It was a 100' "Engineers Chain" with 1' links. If it was a 66' (100 link) chain, I probably would not have sold it.