Unknown collars

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

Here's the pic:

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

here we go:

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

Nils,
Do you have anymore pictures with more detail, I have a hard time seeing details as to determine the type of fabrication and construction.

-Dorson

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

I can't tell much from the photos, but they look kinda like stuff made for the BDSM trade. Either that or pipe hangars. The chain appears to be modern proof chain. The link on that one collar doesn't look like it matches the chain construction.

Better pix would help.



- Dennis

--

Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
-Robert Heinlein

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

here are some on ebay. do the more modern looking chains mean mid to late 20th century? / 1900's
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Ball-Chain- ... dZViewItem

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

Key-Bizs,
That ebay auction is suspicious to me with the poor pictures and that ball is made by a company that makes weight lifting equipment. I could be wrong, but I tend to err on the side of caution..

-Dorson

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

I'm dubious. The chain looks like modern machine chain. The links are short, very uniform, and appear to have the bulge at the join left by electrical resistance welding. That would make them something like 20C+.

Blacksmith chain tends to have long links. Welding the links is the time consuming part, so the longer the links, the fewer forge welds. Then look at an old set of Towers or Hiatts with circular links, and you make me a liar. [shrug]

The staples look to be electrically welded to the collars. The photo quality is too poor to tell, but I think I see the rust at the heat effected zone. The collars themselves could easily be cold formed from strip stock. I can buy the machinery to do that for a couple of hundred bucks, and am considering doing so. It's just one more project on the endless list.

All in all, they look like something made for the modern BDSM trade.

From a practical POV, they look more like a fantasy item than a practical set of restraints. Q: What good would they be in real life?


- Dennis

--
Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.

It's been a while since I posted about these collars (origin: USA), but now I get the pics to work.
By know I'd say modern, worth almost nil.
Any other ideas?

cheers,
Nils

I got these 'collars' I few years back in the States. I have always been doubting what period they are from, or what their original purpose is. They came with a 7 ft. chain.

Any ideas? They are about 10 inches across.

Yeah, the stuff is modern, almost undoubtedly made for the BDSM trade. The chain is modern machine chain. In the first photo, the large connecting ring has been electro welded, and badly. The maker never bothered to clean up the weld.

The closure collar still shows the burs where the four holes were drilled to create the cruciform chain-holes. The regular array of dimples near the fold of the closure collar, are the marks of a machinist’s vice in the hot steel. These marks also show in a few places on the collar itself. A blacksmith’s vise has smooth jaws to avoid leaving those marks.

The closure collar is simply bent closed. There is no weld or other method of securing it.

Look at the third photo down. Notice the bands of rust? Those are transition lines at the ends of the heat affected zone, from when the steel was hot bent. It looks like the steel was heated with a torch and bent in a vise. If it had been heated in a forge, the heat would have been more uniform.