78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 142 Danger

Mr. Li arrived at eight o'clock in the morning.

Mr. Li changed into a clean set of work clothes and looked to be in good spirits.

"Master Li, have you been sleeping for a while?"

"I took a nap."

Ye Bingwen then came out of his office, holding a new work schedule.

"Starting today, we'll work in shifts, four hours a day. No one is allowed to work non-stop."

Liu Xiaojun opened his mouth as if to say something.

Ye Bingwen simply said it was an order and didn't give him any chance to speak.

The four people were assigned to shifts: Chen An and Zheng Shuyun for the day shift, Liu Xiaojun and Old Hu the carpenter for the afternoon shift, and Master Li and another young worker for the night shift.

Ye Bingwen himself was not on the schedule because he was always on it.

The next afternoon, a new problem arose.

The steel mold was used continuously for more than 20 hours without stopping, and the release agent was used up.

Chen An prepared a new release agent.

The new molding compound was applied to the pressed parts, which caused them to stick to the mold.

Master Li saw that it took a long time to pry it off, and the surface of the part was scratched.

Liu Xiaojun frowned as he looked at the area with the latte art.

"The mold release agent is no good; it can't withstand continuous high temperatures."

Chen An dared not continue trying. He ran to the warehouse and found half a bucket of release agent, the same kind he used for making ordinary products.

"Will this work?"

Liu Xiaojun shook his head: "They're different. That one has a low temperature, this one has a high temperature, it can't withstand it."

Master Li was very anxious at this point: "What should we do?"

Liu Xiaojun did not speak.

Liu Xiaojun squatted next to the press and thought for a long time.

At this moment, Old Hu the carpenter came out of the storeroom, holding a small porcelain jar in his hand.

"Try this."

Master Li opened the lid and saw a yellowish-brown object inside the porcelain jar. He brought it closer and smelled it; it smelled like beeswax.

"What is this?"

"Beeswax, genuine, I've been saving it for twenty years, originally used to polish mahogany furniture."

Liu Xiaojun also came over to take a look: "Beeswax? Can it withstand two hundred degrees Celsius?"

"When applying wax to rosewood, the temperature is over 100 degrees Celsius, but the wax won't melt and can withstand it."

Mr. Li was skeptical, so he took a piece of beeswax and rubbed it around the surface of the mold.

When heated, the beeswax melts and spreads evenly on the surface of the mold, seeping into the micropores of the metal.

Master Li wiped it with a cloth.

"Give it a try."

The mold is closed, the press is started, and the results will be revealed in sixty minutes.

Sixty minutes later, the processing was completed.

The parts came off easily with a gentle pry, and the surface finish was even better than when mold release agents were used.

Chen An used a roughness tester to measure it, and the data was one level higher than ▽7.

Master Li looked at the part and then at the jar of beeswax, and was very excited.

"Old Hu, this stuff works better than mold release agent."

Old Hu, the carpenter, didn't say a word, but the smile on his face betrayed him; he was very proud.

"Of course, it's genuine beeswax. I've kept it for twenty years and haven't been willing to use it."

Liu Xiaojun squatted down and looked at the surface of the mold. The beeswax film was very even, without any accumulation or missed spots.

"How many times can this be used?"

"The wax tubes used for hot waxing rosewood furniture can last for several years, and the mold can probably handle dozens of pieces."

Master Li carefully took the beeswax jar and placed it next to the press.

It was 11 p.m. the next night.

Ye Bingwen is looking at the day's finished product report.

Eighteen items were completed during the day shift, and all of them passed inspection.

The afternoon shift completed sixteen items, all of which passed inspection.

The night shift is still working, and eight pieces have already been produced, all of which are up to standard.

To date, a total of ninety-two qualified products have been produced.

Including the twelve returned items that needed to be remade, we still need twenty more.

There are 28 hours left, that's enough.

Ye Bingwen then relaxed a little. He closed the report and went for a walk around the workshop.

Master Li made a small fixture in front of the milling machine to check a special dimension.

His movements were much slower than usual. He kept his eyes on the milling cutter, cranked the feed handwheel, and pushed it forward cut by cut.

Ye Bingwen stood by and watched for a while, and noticed that Master Li's hands were shaking.

"Master Li, what happened to your hand?"

"It's okay, it's just a little sour."

"Take a break."

"7

"Take a break after you finish this."

Master Li continued pushing, and the milling cutter made a squeaking sound when it hit the iron block.

Suddenly his hand slipped, the feed handwheel turned too fast, and the milling cutter plunged directly into the iron block.

Sparks flew out, and Master Li quickly lifted the knife, but the iron block was already ruined.

He turned off the milling machine, took off his goggles, and his hands were still shaking.

Ye Bingwen walked over and said, "Master Li, come down."

"Just a little bit more—"

"Get down here and let Liu Xiaojun handle it."

Master Li didn't insist any further and walked away from the milling machine.

He leaned against the pillar, his hands in his pockets, not wanting anyone to see him shaking.

Ye Bingwen went to call Liu Xiaojun over and handed him the blueprints.

Liu Xiaojun glanced at it, clamped the iron block, and started milling again.

His movements were faster than Master Li's, but also very steady.

Master Li stood beside the pillar, watching without saying a word.

On the other side, Chen An and Zheng Shuyun were testing the last batch of finished products of the day at the testing station.

Chen An took calipers to measure the dimensions, one by one, and reported the numbers.

Zheng Shuyun wrote down her notes in the notebook, each stroke neat and precise.

When he reached the eighteenth measurement, Chen An paused for a moment.

"19.6, 19.6, that's not right."

He blinked hard, reset the calipers to zero, and measured again.

"19.8, I misread it."

Zheng Shuyun glanced at him: "Your eyes are failing you, take a break."

"It's nothing, I just mistook it for something else."

"Go wash your face, I'll take your measurements."

Chen An wanted to say no, but Zheng Shuyun had already taken the calipers.

She washed her face and came back, standing next to the testing station watching Zheng Shuyun take her temperature.

Zheng Shuyun measured very slowly, taking each dimension twice before recording it to confirm its accuracy.

After measuring one, she handed it to Chen An: "Take a look, is this size correct?"

Chen An took it and looked it over: "Yes."

"Then you take the test again. I'll measure you, and you'll measure you. Only if the two of you match can it be considered a successful test."

Chen An nodded.

Starting that afternoon, every finished product was measured by two people, one measuring and the other recording, then they would switch and measure again.

By midnight, all the finished products for the day had been tested.

All passed.

Chen An filled in the data on the wall, and the pass rate line was still 100%.

Zheng Shuyun carefully put the test report in a folder.

She glanced at Chen An, her eyes red and dark-rimmed.

"Go back and get some sleep."

"I'm not going to sleep, there are still twenty items left."

"If you don't sleep, who will cover for you during the day tomorrow?"

Chen An hesitated for a moment before nodding and then went to lie down in the small hut next to the warehouse.

Ye Bingwen walked around the workshop.

Liu Xiaojun stood guard next to the press, his eyes fixed on the temperature gauge.

Master Li leaned against the pillar; his hands had stopped trembling, but his face looked pale.

Old Hu, the carpenter, was carving wooden molds in the warehouse. He shone a flashlight on the ground and pushed the plane step by step, but the speed was obviously slow.

Ye Bingwen called everyone together.

In the middle of the workshop, several people stood in a circle.

"I have something to tell you."