Cutting a link-slot while on the anvil is managed by first carefully marking the two arcs which determine the width of the slot. To mark properly, the link is laid upon a table, and a radius-rod having a steel scriber is made use of. This steel scriber is that which marks the two arcs upon the link, while the other end of the radius-rod is fixed in a centre-punch cavity in the surface-table upon which the link rests. After the two arcs are delineated, and the two ends of the slot also indicated, a chisel is driven in at the marks, and the link is then turned upside-down, and a similar pair of arcs are made upon the other side. Cutting out is then commenced while at a bright yellow heat by punching holes at each end of the intended slot. The punch for making these holes is a circular one, the diameter of which is only one-third the forged width of the slot. With this punch two holes are made at each end of the slot, leaving between each two holes a piece of metal which is one-third the width of the slot. After the ends are thus treated, a row of holes is made along the middle of the slot, and the portions which still remain around the holes are then easily cut out with a trimming-chisel.