Clipped and bent. If you account for the spring back, you can make them line up fairly well though. I've never been cut or scratched by mine. On the down side, mine oxidized after many, many hours of use in the rain, so it was impossible to remove. I had to clip the links completely off to replace the chain with a different one. I was experimenting using the idiot box pattern to make a chainmail connector, but I didn't solder the ends of all the jump rings as I was making it, so it'd always blow apart at the end. I'm still trying to motivate myself to take it apart, and remake it with all the rings soldered shut, but f**k is that a lot of work. The brass collars were a neat touch too, though they pull the center of balance more toward the tops of the sticks, which is great and reliable for aerials and all, but it lowers the striking force if you were interested in doing that sort of thing. They're fun to play with, and nice to look at, but I'd never intentionally hit anything solid with them.
