Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 125 Technology

Yan Hui didn't want to ask Haotian's surname, but politely called him "Brother Tian". Haotian also called Yan Hui "General Manager Yan", after all, he was a person brought by the boss, so he had to be taken seriously.

Haotian also brought someone with him, who looked like a follower. His eyes darted around, and he sized up Yan Hui seven or eight times in just a few minutes.

It's obvious they don't understand technology.

"President Teng asked me to show you around the entire factory first," Haotian said, leading Yan Hui inside.

"Okay." Yan Hui followed.

Mr. Teng's processing plant covers an area of ​​about one acre, but only one-third of the area is used for processing machinery. There are two large machines: a band saw and a circular saw.

Yan Hui is most familiar with band saws, which have strong cutting capabilities and can cut a whole log directly. Circular saws are responsible for more precise cutting tasks.

In addition, there is a relatively outdated thickness planer, a drilling machine, a woodworking lathe, and some clamping equipment.

"Is that all?" Yan Hui frowned slightly.

Although Uncle Si also only has one band saw, it's larger and has a stronger processing capacity. Besides, Uncle Si has more auxiliary equipment, including two surface planers, which is something we don't have here.

"Hmm?" Haotian asked, somewhat puzzled. "President Yan, our equipment here is already quite complete. Look at this planer; it's rare to see even in Jianye. Many processing plants only have band saws."

"What's the maximum precision this thickness planer can achieve?" Yan Hui asked. "If you're using timber for the support structure, any deviation in the timber's cross-sectional diameter will affect the support force. How much tolerance can your planer handle?"

"Hmm, I should be able to keep it within 1 millimeter." Haotian suddenly lost confidence.

He usually calls this machine a "planer," but when he heard Yan Hui say "thickness planer," he knew that this person was more of an expert than him.

"Within 1 millimeter?" Yan Hui frowned slightly. "Is this level of precision uncontrollable on a band saw?"

"Uh, it should be fine." Haotian felt a bit damp on the back of his head. Who was this Mr. Yan? He looked so young.

"Is this one one of your technicians?" Yan Hui pointed to the person next to Haotian.

This person wasn't tall, but his eyes were always darting around, which annoyed Yan Hui.

“Our factory is small, and we don’t have any specialized technicians. Xiao Liu is a carpenter here; he knows how to use the equipment and has some knowledge of it.” Haotian became much more cautious in his speech.

“Oh,” Yan Hui looked at Xiao Liu, but only glanced at him before turning his head to look at the band saw.

"Mr. Yan, is our equipment here considered decent? Mr. Teng said you could improve it?" Haotian asked, seeing that Yan Hui didn't want to chat with Xiao Liu.

"In 1960, the Swedish company Köken established a fully automated lumber mill. Not to mention foreign countries, even the best domestic log band saws can control the feed rate to 0.3mm. We don't even have a digital display here, so let's not talk about being advanced." Yan Hui shook his head.

He gained some knowledge from Ma Junliang, and after arriving in Jianye, he read many books on timber. Combined with his experience with his fourth uncle, he could be considered an expert in Jianye.

"The feed teeth of the band saw are 5mm wide, how can you achieve an accuracy of 0.3mm?" Xiao Liu was a little unconvinced when he heard Yan Hui's words. "Boss, what you're talking about are all from big factories. We can't possibly use the kind of machine you're talking about."

"Your saw blade feed teeth are 5mm thick?" Yan Hui looked at the running band saw machine, somewhat puzzled. "How could you possibly use such thick saw blades? The wear and tear would be too great."

If you want to cut 5cm thick planks from logs, you will draw lines directly on the side of the logs, with a line spaced 5cm apart, and then the band saw will cut along the lines.

Because band saws have inherent thickness—for example, a 5mm band saw—after cutting in, it will cause a 2.5mm loss on both sides of the board. What was originally a 5cm board will become 4.5cm thick. Boards thinner than 4.6cm are sometimes subject to price reductions in the market. The solution is very simple and crude: change the 5cm intervals on the log to 5.2cm. This easily results in a board being cut short.

"Boss, you might not know this, but Jianye is different from Northeast China. The humidity here is high. If you put a 3mm saw blade in directly, it's easy for the teeth to get stuck. So, the teeth of the band saw have to be bent to the left and right sides. This does increase the width of the teeth, but it won't get stuck." Xiao Liu said this with great pride. This was his improvement!

If the thickness of the band saw is 2mm, it is definitely not possible to cut directly. If the thickness is also 2mm, and you cut straight through, the band saw will definitely get stuck.

The solution is to bend the band saw teeth to both sides, for example, to make the feed tooth width reach 3mm. This will cut a 3mm channel, and the band saw will be able to cut very smoothly without getting stuck.

This method is so well-known that no skilled worker is unfamiliar with it. People like Wang Chao, who specialize in dental work and polishing, have an unparalleled understanding of it.

"Are our saw blades 3mm thick?" Yan Hui asked again.

"No, I was just making an assumption." Xiao Liu's tone softened slightly.

"Then why can't we limit the feed width to 3 millimeters?" Yan Hui felt that the cutting here was too wasteful.

"If the humidity is too high, even a 3mm tooth will get stuck. I've tried it." Xiao Liu perked up again.

"The humidity is so high, why don't we try to lower it?" Yan Hui said as he walked toward the pile of logs next to him.

"How do you reduce the humidity of logs?" Haotian was stunned. This President Yan seemed to know a lot, so why was he saying such unprofessional things?

That's raw wood! Even if you put it out in the sun to dry, it would take several months to lower the humidity, assuming the weather stays relatively good!

“Jianye is indeed humid, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it dries slowly,” Yan Hui said, walking over to a pile of timber. “All timber has a coarse diameter and a fine diameter. We draw lines starting from the fine diameter side, so when we cut the first piece, we usually cut off a piece of scrap, right?”

This is easy to understand. Simply put, you first need to cut off the left and right triangles of a trapezoid to make a rectangle. The left and right triangles are basically waste material.

“Yes, that’s right.” Haotian nodded.

"A tree trunk mainly consists of three layers: the outermost layer is the bark, the innermost layer is the phloem (these two are considered one layer), and inside that are the cambium and xylem. Because of the protection of the bark and phloem, trees are very difficult to dehydrate and dry. However, as long as you make one cut, make the first cut, and then make another cut on the other side, and then let it sit for a maximum of three days, the moisture content of the wood can drop by at least three points." Yan Hui's meaning is to cut the wood, which is thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, on both sides to make it the same thickness from top to bottom.

This will expose a large area of ​​the wood layer, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of bark and phloem, causing an exponential decrease in overall water retention. The effects will be noticeable within a few days.

"You can do that?!" Haotian was completely stunned. "Can it really turn into dry timber in just a few days like this?"

“It’s not that the wood is dry, but if you use a 3mm saw tooth to push it in without getting stuck, it should be fine,” Yan Hui gave his first suggestion.

"I have to give this a try!" Haotian thought the idea was feasible.

You can't deny the talent of capable people.

“Your equipment is too basic, but there are still many areas for improvement. I have something to attend to in a bit, so I'll have to go now. I won't be having lunch with Mr. Teng. Here’s what I’m suggesting: try it out. I’ll come back in five days, and if it works, I’ll talk to Mr. Teng again. This is my business card.” Yan Hui said, handing his business card to Haotian. “I’m leaving now. Please tell Mr. Teng for me.”

This food?

Yan Hui had no intention of eating this meal.

(End of this chapter)