Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 13: The Beginning of Table Clock Manufacturing

1981年7月19日，农历6月18日
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At 5: in the morning, just as the sun came out, Wang Jiankun and his father washed up and went to the kiln factory.

The second kiln of bricks that was fired last night should be starting to cool down now. I have to go and check on the situation.

If there are no problems, then Wang Jiankun can focus on his own business, as these people have already completed their training.

When we arrived at the kiln factory, there were only two young men who took turns to watch the kiln. My father asked about the situation, whether the air inlet had been closed on time, and whether there were any other abnormalities.

Both young men said there was nothing unusual and that the kiln was closed on time.

Wang Jiankun also took a look and found that the condition of the bricks inside was the same as in the previous kiln, so he felt relieved.

Wang Jiankun did not stay long and started heading towards Fengshan.

When we arrived in Fengshan, we had clear soup and meat buns at the morning market.

It was not until 8 o'clock that he walked towards Cheng Hongbing's house.

He planned to talk to Chi Hongbing first and then go find Master Quan.

Moreover, in future transactions, Wang Jiankun planned to let Cheng Hongbing hand over the gun to other customers, but he directly gave the gun to Cheng Hongbing, which was equivalent to letting Cheng Hongbing be responsible for external sales.

When I arrived at Cheng Hongbing's house, I saw him eating breakfast alone. Cheng Hongbing invited him to sit down and eat something.

Seeing that there were only two buns and a bowl of porridge left on the table, Wang Jiankun quickly declined, saying that he had already eaten at the morning market.

Seeing this, Cheng Hongbing quickened his pace, and after eating, the two of them came to the shade of the trees in the yard.

Cheng Hongbing said, "I have asked around these days and there are about 20 people who want this air gun. Can you make it? How long will it take to make it? Give me an answer so I can tell my friends."

"I can make about three a day, but they will only be available from the day after tomorrow. I need to prepare the materials in the next two days."

"I'm going to change the transaction method. Starting the day after tomorrow, I'll give you three air rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition every day. You just need to give me 210 yuan."

"I'll give you 10 yuan as an introduction fee, what do you think?"

Cheng Hongbing didn't expect that Wang Jiankun, who was younger than him, was such a good person.

He said, "That's fine. For now, you can prepare the materials for 20 pieces. Come to my yard the day after tomorrow morning and we'll pay and get the goods."

"Okay, then it's a deal. If you want bullets, I'll give them to you at 1 yuan for 5 rounds."

"That's great. You should prepare 500 rounds of ammunition for each gun and send them here. If you need more bullets, I'll let you know in advance."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back and start preparing."

Wang Jiankun said goodbye to Cheng Hongbing and came to the blacksmith shop.

He first found Master Quan, reported to him, and said that he could assemble the clock this morning, and then let Master Quan sell it to see if it would sell well.

Master Quan asked him to assemble it quickly, as he also wanted to see what the clock made by Wang Jiankun looked like.

Wang Jiankun went to find Yu Jianmin to get the wooden parts made by the carpenter, and asked him to help pass a message to the carpenter during the lunch break, saying that he needed 20 sets of wooden stocks and grips, and to deliver at least three every day starting tomorrow.

Yu Jianmin had already taken back the wooden parts of the clock and handed them over to Wang Jiankun after finding them.

After getting the parts, he started to assemble them. Wang Jiankun saw the parts being put together one by one.

First, assemble the gear group, then install the power assist spring, and then install the clock face and second hand, minute hand and hour hand respectively. Put the joystick last, first install the assembled parts into the wooden base and fix them with small iron nails.

Stand the clock upright and install the pendulum.

Take the prepared winding key and tighten both springs. Use your hand to give the pendulum an initial swinging force, and the pendulum will swing left and right.

When the pendulum starts moving, the second hand starts moving little by little.

Wang Jiankun used a watch to calibrate it. After one minute, the second hand had not made a full circle, which meant that the clock was slow. So he turned the small screw at the bottom of the pendulum upwards a few times and tested it again. It became a little faster. After debugging it bit by bit, the clock finally matched the watch.

Then leave it there for an hour to see how much the time deviation is and whether it can ring on the hour and half hour, and the corresponding number of times.

While waiting, Wang Jiankun assembled the front cover of the clock.

The assembly is very simple. A piece of 3 mm thick glass is embedded in the wooden frame, and then the wooden frame is connected to the clock just assembled with a small iron sheet.

This piece of glass was made by Wang Jiankun using his superpowers. All he had to do was find a place with sand and he could get as much sand as he wanted. He didn't even need to find a glass cutter to cut the glass.

For the manufacture of table clocks, Wang Jiankun planned to make money by providing two parts: glass and spring.

Because it would be inappropriate to ask for a share directly from Master Quan, and I can't waste a lot of time just staring at how much was made and how much was sold.

By providing these two parts, which are currently difficult to buy, we can know the output and make money without being conspicuous.

Wang Jiankun estimated that if a table clock was manufactured using conventional methods, it would cost about 15 yuan, of which the spring and glass would account for about 7 yuan, the gear set would cost 4 yuan, the wooden base would cost 2 yuan, and the pendulum, key, and connecting iron sheet would cost 5 yuan.

If you provide your own spring and glass, you can get 7 dollars for each machine.

After more than an hour, I found that the time was very accurate and it rang the corresponding number of times on time.

So Wang Jiankun assembled the front cover and handed it over to Master Quan.

After seeing it, Master Quan looked it over and found that it was similar to the ones sold in the supply and marketing cooperative. There were two little dragon decorations on the wooden base, and it was also painted bright red, which looked very nice.

Then I wound the watch up, checked the time and the movement of the second hand, and found that they were both accurate.

After reading it, Master Quan praised Wang Jiankun and said, "Jiankun, your brain and craftsmanship are really amazing. This is it." Master Quan gave him a thumbs up.

Wang Jiankun smiled and said, "I am just a little more dexterous. The rest is based on the clock at home. Master Quan, thank you for the compliment."

Master Quan asked Wang Jiankun: "Jiankun! Can you roughly calculate the cost of this clock? I'd like to have an idea of ​​how much I should sell it for."

"I roughly calculated that the materials plus labor cost about 15 yuan. If we do it in large quantities later, the cost may be reduced by about 2 yuan. If we add a few machines for polishing, the cost will be reduced even more."

"If you calculate it this way, this business can be done. A desk clock in the supply and marketing cooperative costs 50 yuan, and many people who want to buy it think it is too expensive, so they are waiting and watching."

"If I sell it for 30 yuan per unit and wholesale it to those who carry goods on their shoulders for 25 yuan per unit, I'm sure many people will buy it."

"Yes, if you can buy one for 30 yuan, many families will buy it. It can be used for decades, the whole family can know the time, and it can also be used as a decoration in the main hall."

"Jiankun, I'll take this to a few of my old friends and ask them if they want it. If they all want it, I'll make 10 of them first."

"Ten? That's probably not possible. I bought two pieces of glass and two sets of springs. I've already used one set, so I can only make one more."

"There's only one set of glass and spring left? Do you know where to buy one?"

"I asked my father to go to the county town to buy one before. At that time, I thought of building two to see how it goes."

"Is that so? Then wait a minute. I'll go ask others if they want it and then decide what to do later."

"Okay, I'll make a few airguns first. Once you're sure, I'll tell my dad to buy glass and springs."

Master Quan went to sell the clock with him.

He has been contracted to run this blacksmith shop since last year.

In fact, this blacksmith shop originally belonged to his family, but when the commune was established back then, it was merged into the collective. It was liberalized in recent years and Master Quan took it over.

But making farm tools is not very profitable. Farmers have just a little savings and are reluctant to buy more farm tools. So when there is such a product that can make money, they are very enthusiastic.

If 30 yuan is acceptable to everyone, and if half of the more than 4 households in the entire commune buy a clock, that would be a profit of to yuan.

In fact, when I saw Wang Jiankun selling air guns, I wanted to get involved. However, I thought that such things were expensive and not necessary, and the sales might not be good, so I waited and watched.

Wang Jiankun didn't care about the profit of 20,000 or 30,000 yuan. It would be best if Master Quan could give him some, but it didn't matter if he didn't. He could also make some money by providing glass and springs.

Moreover, since Master Quan has received such a great benefit, he will be more supportive of making new products.

For example, he doesn’t mention air guns anymore, which is a good thing.

I didn’t think too much about it and continued making the gun. I didn’t go to Master Quan’s house for lunch and kept making wax models.

At noon, when no one was around, I used my superpowers to make 10 sets, and I will slowly make the remaining sets later.

In the afternoon, when Master Quan was not back yet, Wang Jiankun started making sand molds. When he finished, Master Quan just came back. When he came back, Master Quan was empty-handed and smiling.

Wang Jiankun stepped forward and congratulated him, "Master Quan, you look so happy. Is this clock very popular?"

"It's good quality and cheap, and it's really popular. It looks like we should prepare to make more, at least 50 units first, otherwise my team won't have enough to share."

"50 units? Then we need to prepare well. Some processes need to be modified, otherwise we won't have enough manpower."

"Nephew, tell me how to prepare and how many more people you need. I will arrange it. Let your uncle Bing finish the orders for farm tools on hand and stop accepting any more orders for the time being. I will fully support you in making the clock."

"Okay then. I'll trouble Master Quan to write it down first."

"Okay, I'll get the paper and pen, and you can talk."

"The first thing I did was to find a carpenter to order a wooden base for the clock. I asked the carpenter to make one and he charged me 5 yuan. I went home and asked the carpenter in my team, and he said that if you make more than 20, you can get one for 2 yuan. You don't need much wood, and the main cost is labor and paint."

"Okay, I'll go find the carpenter first. If we can't come to an agreement, I'll hand the base over to the carpenter on your team."

"The second is to buy more iron, beeswax, charcoal and coal at one time."

"I know these things. It won't be a waste if I buy more. I'll need them to make farm tools anyway."

"The third thing is to prepare some money for my father to buy the springs and glass. They are 7 yuan a set. Do you want to buy all 50 sets or buy them in batches?"

"I've bought them all. I'll give you 350 first. It's too late today. Go find your father tomorrow morning and ask him to buy the spring and glass."

"Don't worry about buying the clockwork and glass. My father will come to Fengshan the day after tomorrow. I will give him the money and ask him to buy them. He will be back the same day."

"That's fine. How are we going to start now? We should be able to make something with the materials we have in the shop, right?"

"If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. I'll make the tools and molds first, so it will be faster. Then Uncle Bing and the others will be able to start working. Otherwise, I can't handle it alone."

"Okay, you decide on the arrangements. I'll let Cha Xiaoming follow you first, and the two of them will finish the farm tool orders first."

Wang Jiankun then asked Cha Xiaoming to light the fire in the calcination furnace to melt the molten iron.

He planned to cast a tungsten steel knife first, which would be used to scrape the iron mold.

First, I carved a scraper out of beeswax, made a sand mold, and poured the molten iron into the three air gun parts made earlier.

There was a little molten iron left to continue calcining. Wang Jiankun poured some of the prepared tungsten powder into it, increased the stirring intensity, and after it was stirred evenly, he poured the tungsten steel knife.

After having dinner at Master Quan’s house in the evening, Wang Jiankun came back to continue making wax models.

This time the wax model is used to make steel molds, including pendulums, gears, keys, and connecting iron plates, all of which are divided into upper and lower halves. Each iron mold can produce 10 corresponding wax model parts, so that the wax model can be cast without the effort of carving.

The cast wax mold only needs to be slightly trimmed at the bottom and can be used as a sand mold, which greatly improves efficiency.

After finishing the sand mold together with Cha Xiaoming, the two of them took a break.

The next morning, he went to the morning market to have breakfast again. The meat buns were really delicious. Don’t be frugal when you have money, Wang Jiankun thought as he ate.

After breakfast, I continued to pour molten iron and filled all the sand molds made last night, which also contained 3 sets of air gun parts.

Master Quan went to Dexing early in the morning. He wanted to buy iron and coal there.

While waiting for the mold to cool down, Wang Jiankun and Cha Xiaoming first polished the air gun parts.

After polishing, I installed the buttstock and grip that Yu Jianmin brought in the morning, and made some slight adjustments, and the three air guns were ready.

Wang Jiankun took it to his room and put it away, not in a hurry to give it to Cheng Hongbing.

Wang Jiankun is not going to pour the bullets here. When the time comes, he will just use his superpowers to split the lead blocks, which is both quick and easy.

After the air gun was completed, the poured material had also cooled down.

Wang Jiankun picked up a tungsten steel knife and began to scrape the iron mold, and asked Cha Xiaoming to be responsible for polishing the three air gun parts that were cast today.

Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to measure the dimensions while polishing. Because one part had 10 grooves to be polished, it took until after 3 pm to finish polishing them all.

At this time, Cha Xiaoming had also polished the parts of three air guns.

Wang Jiankun explained to him the key points of grinding and scraping. This is a job for fitters. After learning it, he could work as a foreman and teach apprentices in small factories in coastal areas.

Cha Xiaoming also listened carefully and told Wang Jiankun to let him try if there were any parts that needed to be polished later.

After polishing, quickly pour the mold down and try it out. Because it is an iron mold and beeswax is used, burn the beeswax and pour it into the iron mold. After pouring some cold water, you can take out the parts. It is very convenient to use.

Wang Jiankun used his super powers to check and found that the dimensions were up to standard, except that there were rough edges at the joints that needed to be trimmed.

Wang Jiankun gave this job to Cha Xiaoming, who was responsible for the inspection.

When it was almost time to get off work, Master Quan came back exhausted. Wang Jiankun told him about today's results and said that 10 sets of sand molds could be made today and the parts could be cast tomorrow.

Master Quan was very happy to hear this, and said that he would give the money to Wang Jiankun and ask him to buy a spring and glass for his father as soon as possible.

He then talked about the situation in Dexing. He not only went to buy iron, coal and other materials, but also went to the stall owners there to inquire about the wholesale situation of table clocks.

When the vendors heard that he had cheap table clocks for wholesale, they all expressed their desire to purchase them.

Because there are many mines there, the sales have been very good in recent years, and the miners have money to build new houses. If there are cheap clocks, there will be no problem selling them.

He quoted the vendors a wholesale price of 30 yuan, and they all said without hesitation that they would pay immediately once the goods were delivered.

He roughly counted and found that there were orders for more than 100 units in total.

So when he met Wang Jiankun, he was all smiles and asked to make another 50 units after 200 were sold.

In the evening, Wang Jiankun and Cha Xiaoming did not continue to make sand molds, but instead guided Cha Xiaoming to make wax models.

In the gap between the instructions, I made several sets of air gun wax molds, and plan to cast them together tomorrow. I will cast the parts of 21 guns first, and then polish them slowly and ship them out when I have time.

The contract has been signed. Welcome all book friends to collect and recommend this book

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(End of this chapter)