Click to expand...
The ball & Chain look new, but the photos of the chain are not detailed enough for me to tell. The links appear to have the modern proof-coil shape, but I am not seeing the characteristic bump from electric resistance welding. I would need to examine the chain. If the links are forge welded, the lap where the weld occurs should be visible on some of the links, at least. They are extremely uniform links, not in keeping with the mediocre quality of the rest of the work.
Of course, a metallurgical analysis would tell.
The ball and chain does not appear to go with the shin breaker. They would have no purpose, together. Then again, restraint items often get "connected" just because they were found together.
The shin breaker appears to have been electric-arc welded in inside of the heel. It appears to have been stick welded and the weld is cratered. This can be seen in photos 2 and 5, counting downward.
The tab where the upper leg bolt is attached to the shackle body appears to have been spot welded to the shackle body. I am not certain about this.
The slot that is captured by the wingnut in Photo 4 has a square bottom. This would be an unusual, but not unheard of, way for a smith to cut a slot. Typically a round hole would be punched to make the bottom of the slot, It would then be chiseled out to make a slot. This is easier than cutting a square notch, looks more finished, and is stronger in wrought iron.
I can't see how the hinge on the backstrap is fastened, but question why a smith would use a separate hinge at all, when he could have rolled the ends over and slotted them for hinges. There are other examples of integral hinges on the device.
I would want to examine the screw threads.
The overall construction looks like strap-iron. It is expensive and unnecessary to create those sharp, square corners. Making such uniform strap iron by hand, would take skill that clashes against the buggery marks elsewhere on the device.
All in all, this makes me uneasy.