Referring to the body of the work for a short history and description of this important Instrument, in its common form, we shall here briefly notice some recent improvements, and shall then give an account of the present method of making anchors.

The form of the common anchor is delineated in fig. 1. Plate * XX. Fig. 2. represents a new kind of anchor proposed by Mr Stuard, for which he took out a patent some years ago. It is made with one fluke instead of two; and the object of this alteration is, to prevent those accidents which sometimes happen when one ship comes in contact with the uppermost fluke of the anchor of another; and also to prevent the anchor from being tripped by the cable taking hold of it when the ship swings. In order, says Mr Stuard, in his Specification, "that this anchor may be sure to fall the right way, with the fluke downwards, I would have the shank very short; whereby, when suspended by the cable, it will cant the most, and when it has hold in the ground, the ship will ride safer; as a long shank has more power to loosen and break the ground, and is more likely to be bent or broken from its hold." Let the form of the shank, and arm of the anchor, be as AA, fig. 2. Plate * XX.; and that the parts may be stronger than if made separately, and shut together, I would have the bars which compose them in one length, so that there be no weld or joining in the whole length of the shank and arm. The hole B, is to receive the ring for the cable, and the hole C, for the stock, which is composed of a wrought-iron bolt, as A, fig. 3., covered with cast-iron at its ends, BB. The palm to be in shape as D, fig. 2., and shown detached in fig. 4., made either entirely of cast-iron, or a cast-iron shell filled with lead, which is of much more specific gravity than iron. The back of the palm to be formed either with concave surfaces, or flat surfaces, making angles at the centre. The anchor is also to have a small shackle, fixed on the bend of the shank and arm, as at E, fig. 2., for the buoy-rope to be made fast to. The shank may be made without the hole C, and the hole B, made octagonal; or if round, it should have a small fillet projecting from the stock, and a small cavity on one side of the hole B, to receive it, thus to prevent the stock from turning round; and instead of a ring for the cable, to have a shackle, fitted on the stock, on each side of the shank, and that the shackle may not turn on the stock, and fall too low, a stop is to be fixed on each side at the upper end of the shank." See Repertory of Arts, &c.

Mooring-anchors are commonly made by choosing one of the largest anchors, used for first-rate ships, weighing 80 cwt., and by bending one of the arms close down upon the shank, to prevent it catching the cable or mooring-chains whilst the ships are riding. These anchors are lowered down into the water with a very strong iron mooring-chain fastened to the ring, to which the ships are fastened; they are usually made from such as are damaged in one of the flukes or arms; but if one of this description is not to be found, a new anchor must be taken at a great expense. A new kind of mooring-anchor of cast-iron was described by Mr Hemman of Chatham, to the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. in 1809, for which he obtained a silver medal from the Society. AA, fig. 5. Plate * XX., represents the palm or heavy part of the anchor, made very massive of cast-iron, and of considerable breadth, so that the edge B, or part which enters the ground, may have a great hold; the shank C, is made also of cast-iron, and fixed firmly to the head by passing through it, and has a small ring at a, where the buoy-rope is fixed; the other end of the shank goes through the stock DD, which is formed of two large wooden beams hooped together in the same manner as the stocks for common anchors; the end of the shank projects through the stock, and has a strong wrought-iron shackle E, fixed to it, by a bolt passing through both; and with this the mooring-chain is connected. The great advantage of this over the common mooring anchors, arises from its great weight and breadth of edge to act against the ground; and being made of cast-iron, it is also more durable. A pair of these anchors, weighing 150 cwt. each, will, with the mooring-chains, cost about L. 874 less than a pair of the common anchors, which, with their chains, cost L. 2472. See Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. Vol. XXVIII.

Anchors are made from assemblages of several Method of small bars of iron united together, by welding them into solid masses. This mode is preferable to making a single bar of sufficient size by the forge hammer in the original preparation of the iron, because the compounded bar is not liable to have any internal flaws or cracks, or at least they will not be in a transverse direction; for the bars are all examined separately before uniting them, and any which are imperfect are rejected; if, therefore, after the welding, any cracks are left between the bars, they must be in the length of the anchor, and will not deduct so materially from the strength of the whole.

The hearth AA, of the anchor-smith's forge, see fig. 6. Plate * XX., is built of brick-work, raised about 6 or 9 inches above the ground, and 6 or 7 feet square; in the centre is a large cavity, to contain the fire; at the back of the hearth a vertical brick wall B, is erected, supporting and forming one side of the chimney, which is little more than a dome placed over the hearth, and opening at top with a low chimney to carry off the smoke. Behind the wall, the bellows CD, are placed; the noses of the pipes, being about the level of the hearth, and coming through the wall; which at that part is defended from the action of the fire by a facing of fire-stone. In this fire-stone the tue-iron is fixed; it is a tube, made of wrought iron, and very thick in the substance, that it may not burn away in the fire; the pipes of the bellows are inserted in the tue-iron, and thus convey the stream of air into the centre of the fire.

The bellows are not like those which ordinary smiths make use of; but two large pair of single bellows CD, are placed horizontally by the side of each other, the pipes of both being inserted into the same tue-iron, and directed to blow to the same focus, in the centre of the fire; these bellows are exactly like those in use for domestic purposes, which only throw out air when the upper board is pressed down. The two are worked alternately by means of chains c d, attached to the ends of the upper boards, and united to the end of the working levers HI, placed over each pair of bellows. From the opposite extremities of these levers, other chains e f, are extended to the opposite side of a long lever GG; which moves upon the pivots of a vertical axis E, and is loaded at the ends by heavy weights to give it momentum. Now, two or more men pushing in opposite directions, can give it a motion backwards and forwards, and by the communication of the chains and upper levers HI, they will alternately lift up the upper boards CD, of the bellows, which being sufficiently loaded, will subside themselves, and force their contents of air into the fire. The men who work the lever G, are aided by six or eight more, who place themselves upon the board of one pair of bellows, and as soon as it subsides, they step upon the other pair, which also sinks, and then they return: they have ropes suspended from the roof to enable them to lift themselves, and mount from one bellows upon the other with more ease. The common tue-iron, which is simply a cone of wrought-iron, set with clay into fire-stones, composing the back of the hearth, is very soon burnt by the great heat. The most improved forges, therefore, are now furnished with what is called the water tue-iron; which is made hollow, and water introduced into it to keep it cool. For this purpose, two cones are formed of thick iron plate, each with a small aperture at the vertex; these, when put one into the other, are welded together at their bases and their points, so as to form one cone, which is hollow, with a small space all round; two pipes communicate with the hollow, one bringing a continual supply of cold water, and the other conveying away that which is heated by the fire. By this means the tue-iron is kept cool, and can never acquire any such degree of heat as to be burned away: this tue-iron is set with fire clay into a frame of cast-iron built up in the brick-work of the wall B.

The anvil K, is only a cubic block of cast-iron placed on the ground, much lower than the ordinary smith's anvil; because, as the anchor-smiths always strike by swinging their hammers over their heads, at arms length, they have more force when the work lies low on the ground than if raised up. At a distance of eight or nine feet from the hearth AA, a strong crane gib LM, is erected, so as to turn freely upon the vertical post M; it has no tackle, but the upper beam L, which must be horizontal, has a large iron loop n hung upon it, with a roller o, which admits it to run freely backwards and forwards upon the beam; the lower end of the loop suspends the anchor; therefore, by moving the rollers along the beam of the gib, and by turning the gib round on its pivots, the anchor can be placed in any position in the fire or upon the anvil. To give motion to the roller o, a rack p is connected with it; and this is moved by a pinion upon the axis of the wheel t, which has an endless rope hanging down, so that a labourer can reach it, and thus remove the anchor nearer or farther from the centre, however great its weight may be. The workmen employ scarcely any other tools than their sledge-hammers, and a few large punches, cutting chisels, and sets or prints, which, when urged by the hammers, will give any particular figure to the work: the hammers are of the largest kind, and weigh from fourteen to eighteen pounds, according to the strength of the workmen. In the Royal dock-yard great use is made of a stamping machine, which the workmen call Hercules; and which is very similar to the machine for driving piles. A heavy iron weight N, guided like the ram of the pile engine, is drawn up by the strength of several men, and let fall upon the anchor, to weld the bars, in the same manner as by a forge-hammer. The machine is erected on a large block of stone, which supports the anvil O; two square iron bars PP, are fixed on each side of the anvil in a vertical position, the angles of the bars being placed towards each other. These vertical bars are eight or nine feet high, and are fixed at the top to a beam in the roof of the building, in which the machine is placed; the ram N, which weighs 4½ cwt., is fitted to slide up and down between the bars P, having notches in its sides which receive the angles of the bars; it is drawn up by a rope passing over an iron pulley Q, mounted upon pivots above the top of the vertical bars; and the rope has eight or ten small ones R, spliced into it, for as many men to act together (which they do by a similar motion to that of ringing), to elevate the ram, and let it fall upon the iron, placed upon the anvil O. The Hercules is placed in the same sweep of the crane as the anvil K, so that the iron can be conveyed to either with equal ease.

The parts of the anchor are all made separately, and afterwards united together. The first step, in making the parts, is to assemble or faggot the bars. For the centre of the mass, which is to make the shank, four large bars are first laid together; then upon the flat sides of the square so formed, smaller bars are arranged to make it up to a circle. The number is various, but in large anchors six or eight bars are laid on every side; this circle is surrounded by a number of bars arranged like the staves of a cask; as many as thirty-six are often used, and form a complete case for the others. The ends are made up by short bars to a square figure; the faggot is finished by driving iron hoops upon it at sufficient distances; see W in the figure; and it is suspended from the crane in such a manner, that it can be moved and turned in any direction, by only one or two men, even when it weighs three tons. For this purpose, an iron pulley k is hooked to the iron loop n of the crane, and a short endless chain l, passed over the pulley, suspends the faggot in its loops; in this manner, the weight of the iron is in reality borne by the pivot of the pulley k, and the mass can be easily turned round upon its centre to bring any side upwards. To give a power to the man who guides it, one of the four central bars is double the length of the faggot, and projects, see g, to form a long lever by which it is steered; and two holes are made through the end of this bar to insert a cross lever h, by which the faggot is turned or rolled round upon its centre. As the faggot hangs very nearly on a balance in the loop of the chain l, the man, by weighing on the end of the long bar g, can easily raise up its end from the anvil K; and swinging the crane on its pivots, he can move it into the fire, which is made up hollow like an oven. To effect this form, the fireman first spreads the coals evenly upon the hearth, and with his shovel or slice makes a flat surface about the level of the tue-hole; he then arranges some large cinders or cakes round in a circle upon this surface, and by other cinders builds it up like an oven or dome, leaving a mouth to introduce the iron. The oven is adapted in size to the magnitude of the mass of iron; and must be brought forwards upon the hearth, to leave a space between its interior cavity, and the orifice of the tue-iron; in which space a passage is made from the tue-hole to the fire, and filled up with large lighted coals, and then covered up by small coals. The blast from the bellows passes through these hot coals, in order that the cold air may not enter the fire at once, and blow on the iron, but be first converted into flame; which is urged forcibly into the oven, and is reverberated from the roof and sides upon the iron placed in the centre. As the floor of the oven is nearly upon a level with the tue-hole, the flame from the coals between it and the fire also plays upon the bottom, and thus heats the iron on all sides. The outside of the dome is covered over with a considerable thickness of small coals, which cake together, and, as the inside of the oven consumes, settle down into a dome again, which the smith aids by striking the outside with the flat of his slice. If the fire breaks out at any place in the roof, the smith immediately repairs the breach with fresh coals, and damps them with water, that they may not burn too fast; for if the inside of the oven burns very fierce, the flames will not be reverberated so forcibly as when it is in the state of burning cake. Care must likewise be taken to prevent the fire burning back to the tue-iron. The mouth of the oven should be made no larger than to admit the work, and that as little heat as possible may escape by the iron, the mouth is filled round it with coals. F is an iron screen hung on hinges, to swing before the mouth of the fire when the iron is withdrawn, that the workmen may not be scorched by the heat.

All the men unite to assist in blowing the bellows, which they work in the manner already described, from half an hour to an hour, according to the size of the anchor, until they have raised the iron to a good welding heat. The mouth of the fire is opened occasionally to inspect the process, and the faggot is turned in the fire, if it is not found to be heating equally in every part. Eight men, and sometimes more, are employed to forge an anchor; six of them strike with the hammers, one is stationed at the guide bar, and the eighth, who is master or foreman, directs the others, and occasionally assists to guide the anchor. When the whole of that part which is in the fire comes to a good welding heat, the workmen leave the bellows and take up their hammers; the coals are removed from the iron, which is swung out of the fire by the man who guides it, assisted by others, and the hot end placed on the anvil; during which time, one or two labourers with birch brooms sweep off the coals which adhere to it.

The smiths now begin hammering, one-half the number standing on one side and the other half on the other; they use large sledges, weighing from sixteen to eighteen pounds, and faced with steel, striking in regular order, one after the other, swinging the hammers at arms length, and all striking nearly at the same place: the foreman places himself near the man who guides, and with a long wand points out the part he wishes them to strike, and at the same time directs, and sometimes assists the guide to turn the faggot round, so as to bring that side uppermost which requires to be hammered. This is continued as long as the metal retains sufficient heat for welding. This process is exceedingly laborious for the workmen, and is much more effectually performed by means of the Hercules, which strikes such powerful blows upon the iron as to consolidate the bars much more than the strokes of small hammers can do, however long they may be continued. When the iron has lost so much of the heat, that it will no longer weld, the foreman takes a number of pins, made like very thick nails without heads; one of these he holds in the end of a cleft stick, places its point upon the iron, and two smiths, with their sledges, strike on it with all their force, to drive it through the bars; but this they must do quickly, or the pins will become hot and soft, so as not to penetrate the bar. These pins are intended to hold the whole together more firmly, and by swelling out the sides, to fill up any small spaces there may be between the bars. The iron is now returned to the fire; another mouth being opened on the opposite side of the oven, to admit the end or part which has been welded to come through, that a part further up the faggot may be heated; and when this is done, the welding is performed in the same manner as before. Thus, by repeated beatings, the faggot is made into one solid bar of the size and length intended; it is then hammered over again at welding heats to finish it, and make an even surface; and in this second operation, the workmen do not leave off hammering as soon as the iron loses its full welding heat, but continue till it turns almost black. This renders the surface solid and hard; and closes all small pores at which the sea-water might enter, and by corroding the bars, expand them, and, in time, split open the mass of iron.

The shank for an anchor is made larger at the lower end, where the arms are to be welded to it, and is of a square figure; a sort of rebate or scarf (s) is here formed on each side the square, in order that the arms may apply more properly for welding. This scarf is made in the original shape of the faggot, and finished by cutting away some of the metal with chisels whilst it is hot, and using sets or punches, properly formed to make a square angle to the shoulder of the scarf. The upper end of the shank is likewise square, and the length between these square parts is worked either to an octagon or round, tapering regularly from the lower to the upper end. The hole to receive the ring of the anchor is pierced through the square part at the upper end, first by a small punch, and then larger ones are used till it is sufficiently enlarged: the punch is made of steel, and, when it is observed to change colour by the heat, it is struck on the opposite end to drive it out, and is instantly dipped in water to cool it, and another driven in. The projecting pieces or nuts, which are Anchor to keep the stock or wooden beam of the anchor, and its place on the shank are next welded on. To do this, the shank is heated, and, at the same time, a thick bar is heated in another forge; the end of this is laid across the shank; and the men hammer it down to weld it to the shank, then the piece is cut off by the chisel, and another piece welded on the opposite side.

Whilst this process of forging the shank is going on, the smiths of another forge, placed as near as convenient to the former, are employed in making the arms, which are made from faggots in the same manner as the shank, but of less size and shorter; they are made taper (see X), one end of each being smaller than the other; the larger ends are made square, and cut down with scarfs (r) to correspond with those (s) at the lower end of the shank. The middle parts of the arms are rounded, and the outer extremities are cut away as much as the thickness of the flukes or palms m, that the palms may be flush with the upper sides when they are welded on. The flukes are generally made at the iron forges in the country, by the forge hammer; but in some yards are made by faggoting small bars, leaving one long one for a handle; when finished they are welded to the arms, which have then the appearance of X.—The next business is to unite the arms to the end of the shank; and, in doing this, particular care is necessary; as the goodness of the anchor is entirely dependent upon its being effectually performed. In so large a weld, the outside is very liable to be welded, and make a good appearance while the middle part is not united; to guard against this, both surfaces of the scarfs should be rather convex, that they may be certain to touch in the middle first. When the other arm is welded, the anchor is complete except the ring, which is made from several small bars welded together, and drawn out into a round rod, then bent to a circle, put through the hole in the shank, and its ends welded together. If the shank or other part is crooked, it is set straight by heating it in the crooked part, and striking it over the anvil, or by the Hercules. After all this, the whole is heated, but not to a white heat; and the anchor hammered in every part, to finish and make its surface even: this is done by lighter hammers worked by both hands, but not swung over the head. This operation renders the surface of the metal hard and smooth; and if very effectually performed, the anchor will not rust materially by the action of the sea water. The hammering is continued till the iron is quite black and almost cold. It is common with some manufacturers, after they have made up the shank, to heat it again, and apply the end of a thin flat bar properly heated upon it; then by turning the large shank round, the bar is wound spirally upon it, so as to form a complete covering to the whole. This method admits of employing a kind of iron, which is less liable to corrosion; but we fear it is sometimes resorted to, to conceal the bad qualities of the iron of which the anchor is composed.

The iron from which anchors are made ought to be of the best quality: that kind of it which is called red short, will not bear sufficient hammering to weld the bars, and cold short, from its brittleness, is not to be depended upon when the anchor is in use. A good anchor should be formed of the toughest iron that Anderson can be procured.

We shall have some farther particulars to mention in regard to anchors, when we come to the article DOCK-YARDS.