Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 764 Officially Starting Work and Taking Action
The next day.

Steel rolling mill.

Engineer Ling from the Technical Department finally finished attending the Ministry of Metallurgy's meeting and returned.

Ling Zhengze, an engineer in his forties with thick glasses and a serious demeanor, is one of the key members of the technical department.

As soon as he returned, his colleagues in the department mentioned a new night school student, especially his impressive graduation transcript, in which he scored above 90 in both subjects.

"Oh? Such good grades? Who is it? Introduce them." Engineer Ling pushed up his glasses, a hint of surprise and interest flashing in his eyes behind the lenses.

"Come on, let me introduce you to them." Director Wang smiled and led him to meet the people.

The two walked up to Li Kailang's workstation.

Li Kailang was engrossed in reading an equipment drawing when he heard the noise and looked up: "Director Wang."

"This is Comrade Li Kailang. Little Li, this is Engineer Ling. I mentioned him to you when you first arrived."

"Engineer Ling."

"Hello, I heard Director Wang mentioned you. You have good grades?" Engineer Ling nodded, his voice calm but scrutinizing.

"Yes." Li Kailang nodded.

Seeing how humble he was and why he didn't offer any explanation, I felt a bit more favorably disposed towards him.

"Both of your scores were 90, that's great! By the way, which skill are you learning?"

"Fitter," Li Kailang replied.

Upon entering the mechanical engineering department, everyone either already possessed a skill or, if they didn't, would choose to learn one: fitter, forger, or riveter.
Even Yu Xingmei and Qi Mengru are skilled in fitter work.

"Fitter?" Ling's eyes flickered slightly. "How exactly?"

The question here is naturally asking about the worker's grade.

"My teacher said I have a level five skill," Li Kailang said modestly.

Ling raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that Li Kailang was so young yet had already achieved this level.

The salary is not lower than that of many college graduates who have been working for several years.

His gaze lingered on Li Kailang's face for a few seconds, as if judging how credible his words were.

It's understandable for a recent college graduate to have good theoretical grades, but practical skills are lacking.
Engineers are highly regarded and valued in factories not only because they can design blueprints and solve technical problems.

Another important reason is that they have extremely strong hands-on skills!

They are multi-talented individuals!

An engineer who can't even understand his own blueprints or guide workers to process them correctly is just talking theory.

The ultimate goal for people like this is to become junior engineers. People like Yu Xingmei and Qi Mengru will only reach this level unless they make other significant contributions.

Senior engineers are often just as skilled as top-level technicians, and may even be better at integrating complex systems and solving difficult problems.

This is why engineers can earn such high salaries; it's a perfect combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

The reason why Yi Zhonghai had considerable influence in the factory was because the senior engineer had left, and he was the one with the strongest hands-on skills, making him irreplaceable.

"What you learn from books is never enough," Engineer Ling suddenly said, his tone unreadable. "Come with me for a moment."

He led Li Kailang straight to a small experimental workshop next to the technical department.

This area contains some commonly used machine tools and some raw materials and measuring tools for processing.

Ling Gong first walked to the cabinet in the corner and pulled out a blueprint from it.

It was a relatively complex assembly drawing, which included several parts that required on-site machining and assembly.

In terms of difficulty, it's roughly level six, similar to Li Kailang's engineering level.

He handed the blueprints to Li Kailang: "Take a look at this. Can you understand it? What needs to be processed?"

Li Kailang took it, quickly glanced at it, and already had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Several small parts on the drawing need to be machined by a combination of fitter and lathe operator, and the precision requirements are not low.

"I understand, Engineer Ling. These parts need to be machined." Li Kailang pointed to several locations on the drawing and accurately reported the key information.

Ling nodded, pointing to the numerous materials on the shelf.

"Okay, I'll give you one hour. Try to make these parts according to the drawings. You don't have to make them all, but you have to do them well. Choose your own tools."

His words were simple, but the scrutinizing look in his eyes was very obvious.

He wanted to see for himself how skilled this theoretical expert was in actual practice.

"Okay, Mr. Ling."

Li Kailang didn't say much. He put down the blueprints, quickly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearms.

He walked to the tool cabinet and selected the tools and materials he needed one by one.

He picked up a piece of steel, but instead of starting immediately, he carefully checked the dimensions and tolerances on the drawing again. Then, he skillfully and accurately drew the machining lines on the material.

Next, he firmly clamped the workpiece, picked up the saw bow, and cleanly sawed off the excess part along the marked line.

The saw blade runs smoothly and produces a straight cut, demonstrating good basic skills.

Next, we file the flat and angled surfaces.

Li Kailang's posture was very standard, his body was stable, and his arm strength was even.

It had been less than an hour.

Li Kailang carefully cleaned the processed parts and assembled and debugged them on-site according to the assembly drawing requirements.

With a few soft "clicks," the parts came together perfectly, fitting together smoothly without any obstruction or looseness.

He picked up a feeler gauge to check the fit clearance, and it was completely in line with the tolerance requirements.

"Mr. Ling, it's done. Please take a look."

Li Kailang handed over the assembled parts in a calm tone.

Engineer Ling stood by, carefully observing the entire process, his serious expression long gone.

Instead, there was an undisguised admiration and a hint of surprise.

Every step Li Kailang took was textbook perfect, without a single mistake.

This alone shows that Li Kailang's kung fu skills are quite high.

But ultimately, we'll have to wait and see how the final product turns out.

He took the component, carefully inspected each machined surface, measured key dimensions, and tested the fit.

The more I looked, the brighter the light in my eyes became.

"Good! Very good!" Engineer Ling finally couldn't help but praise, his voice filled with sincere approval. "The flatness of this file, the smoothness! Wow!"

"Xiao Li, with your skills, you're definitely a level 5 fitter, maybe even on the verge of level 6. You don't look like a student who just graduated!"

He gave it extremely high praise without reservation.

Li Kailang smiled modestly: "Mr. Ling, you flatter me. I'm still far from being as skilled as the experienced workers in the factory."

Factory Director Yang still didn't mention to them that Li Kailang was capable of achieving the eighth-grade worker level.

The biggest fear is that being too successful will attract unwanted attention and negatively impact relationships within the department.

"That's rare! Good grades, and such strong practical skills too!"

Engineer Ling nodded in satisfaction, his impression of Li Kailang greatly changed, and he could even be said to be looking at him with new respect.

He put down his workpiece, his tone becoming much more friendly: "What have you been doing in the department these past few days? Just looking at documents?"

"Yes, Engineer Ling. I've been familiarizing myself with the department's general technical specifications, equipment files, and past technical upgrade project data."

“Well, just looking isn’t enough; that’s just theory.” Engineer Ling waved his hand dismissively.

"Alright! From today onwards, stop sitting there looking at documents and start working with me!"

He paused for a moment: "Coincidentally, I have a lot of things to do and I need someone to lend a hand."

"You have a solid theoretical foundation and good practical skills, so you can be of great help."

"I'll show you the machine tool drawings in a bit so you can familiarize yourself with the structure. Then come with me to take a look."

"Yes, Engineer Ling!" Li Kailang's eyes lit up and he immediately replied.

Finally, he no longer has to just read boring documents! Being able to participate in actual projects and directly face real technical problems is the purpose of his coming to the technical department.

From that day on, Li Kailang's life in the technical department truly got on track, and he was no longer the "intern" who sat quietly reading in the corner.

The two returned to the technical department one after the other.

Director Wang saw it from afar, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Engineer Ling nodded slightly to him, which was a positive signal.

Director Wang understood, smiled and nodded, then went back to his work.

Before long, someone delivered the blueprints to Li Kailang.

Engineer Ling sat down at his desk and took out several thick blueprints and a stack of bound technical specifications from his drawer.

"Here, take a look at this first." He pushed the blueprints and documents in front of Li Kailang.

"These are the blueprints and some technical manuals for the lathes that the factory imported from the Soviet Union three years ago. They have all been translated. The one we have here is from one of them."

Li Kailang carefully accepted it.

He recognized the model. When he was studying at night school, his teacher Yan Wanbin had emphasized this batch of Soviet-aided equipment. It was considered a treasure of the factory, with performance much better than the old domestic models, but it was also more sophisticated and required higher maintenance.

“This machine,” Engineer Ling pointed to the equipment number on the cover of the blueprints.

“In the past month, the machining accuracy has become unstable, and the dimensions have become very erratic.”

"The operators have reported it several times, and Lao Zhang and his colleagues in the department have also gone up to check it several times. They've replaced a lot of things and tried everything they could think of, but the problem is still not completely solved. It's intermittent, and the impact is quite significant."

Ling Gong's tone was calm, but Li Kailang could sense the pressure in it.

"Even Technician Zhang couldn't find a specific reason?"

Old Zhang is one of the senior technicians.

“Old Zhang is very experienced, but this batch of equipment is a bit new, and they haven’t fully understood some of the structures. There are many places where problems could arise.”

Mr. Ling picked up the enamel mug on the table and took a sip of water.

"My task is to find the root cause of the problem and come up with a solution. It's perfect that you're here; lend a hand and let's work together to 'pull' it out!"

Li Kailang understood immediately and got into the zone. "Okay! Engineer Ling, I'll familiarize myself with the blueprints first."

Engineer Ling waved his hand.

Back at my workstation, I immediately began to check.

He reads very quickly, but not superficially. In his mind, he is building a precise 3D model, transforming the lines on the drawing into three-dimensional shapes.

When he encounters a key structure or dimension, he will stop and use a pencil to jot down the key points or draw a simple diagram on a blank sheet of paper next to him, his brow sometimes furrowing and sometimes relaxing.

Ling Gong wasn't idle either; he was organizing other materials and occasionally visiting Li Kailang.

About an hour later, Engineer Ling came to find him: "Finished looking at it? What did you think?"

"The structure is very precise," Li Kailang commented. "However, Engineer Ling, there are a few points I have questions about."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Engineer Ling put down the documents in his hand, leaned forward slightly, and became interested.

A discovery so quickly?
"The first point is about the axial positioning of the drive shaft." As he spoke, he drew a simple diagram in his notebook.

"The second point concerns lubrication." He turned to the lubrication piping diagram. "The gears inside the spindle box use splash lubrication."

“I saw the last refueling record. If the worker mistakenly added grease with too high viscosity or mismatched lubrication properties, it may affect the formation of oil film and heat dissipation in critical parts, exacerbate wear, and may also lead to fluctuations in precision.”

Engineer Ling's expression turned grim. "Wrong fuel? This is utter nonsense! I'll go check right now!"

He realized that this might be a serious problem caused by a basic mistake, so he rushed to the workshop immediately.

Half an hour later, Engineer Ling returned, his expression much calmer, but still tinged with helplessness and anger.

"It's been verified. It happened during maintenance last month. The worker in charge of refueling, for convenience, saw some general-purpose grease on site and added some, assuming it was universal!"

"I have already told Lao Zhang to immediately drain all the fuel from the tank, thoroughly clean the tank and lines, and refill it with the specified fuel."

"This is a basic mistake that could kill someone!" Engineer Ling rubbed his temples, then looked at Li Kailang with a complicated expression.

"Xiao Li, your observation skills and meticulousness are truly rare. You've combined the blueprints with the actual situation very well! You've hit the nail on the head!"

"Mr. Ling, you flatter me. I just happened to see the inspection card," Li Kailang said modestly.

"Don't be modest, finding problems is a skill." Engineer Ling waved his hand. "Your first point, about the drive shaft, is very likely true."

"Adding the wrong oil may be the cause of the recent increased wear and more frequent problems, but the underlying instability may still lie in the assembly precision."

"Simply changing the oil might only be a temporary fix. Let's go to the workshop now and focus our investigation on this shaft!"

At this point, Engineer Ling patted his head, realizing he had forgotten to call Li Kailang along when he left.

Now I have to make another trip.

Not long after, the two arrived at the machining workshop.

The malfunctioning lathe had been shut down, and standing beside it were Technician Zhang and several workers, their faces showing a mixture of trepidation and anticipation.

They clearly already knew about the wrong fuel being added and were waiting for the technical department to come and "diagnose" the problem.

"Mr. Ling, the oil has been changed and the pipes have been cleaned. Take a look," Old Zhang said, rubbing his hands, somewhat embarrassed.

The workers were even more embarrassed, lowering their heads and not daring to look, because their momentary mistake had almost caused a disaster.

Engineer Ling nodded: "Old Zhang, thank you for your hard work. Now that the oil problem is solved, we'll focus on checking the spindle box transmission."

He looked at Li Kailang, "Xiao Li, what are your thoughts? How do you plan to investigate?"

Li Kailang knew that Engineer Ling was testing him on how to apply theory in the field.

He composed himself and walked to the machine tool.

Immediately, a maintenance panel appeared before my eyes, listing all the problems with this machine tool.

The lathe spindle box drive shaft suffers from unstable machining accuracy and dimensional drift due to inaccurate axial positioning and assembly.

1. Replace the entire device with original, genuine parts.

2. Fabricate the necessary parts for replacement and repair. Note that because these are not original parts, the dimensions and material properties may be inadequate, increasing the chance of damage.

3. Correct auxiliary errors and make local adjustments; no core components need to be replaced.

Do I need to look for this?

However, he still had to put on an act, making sure that the problem was immediately obvious and that no one would suspect that he was the one who did it.

With the results provided on the panel, it's easy to deduce the process and reasons directly from the results.

"Technician Zhang, could you please help me? The first step is to remove the protective cover on the side of the spindle box."

The cover was quickly removed, revealing the complex gear transmission system inside.

"Step Two"

The problem was soon discovered.

Ling wanted to further test Li Kailang's repair skills, so he asked him to try fixing it himself.

"Don't be afraid of making mistakes, I'm here for you."

With Ling Gong's words, my own level eight fitter skills, and the results from the repair panel, what is there to fear?
The machine tool was repaired in no time.

"Great! Excellent!" Engineer Ling patted Li Kailang's shoulder forcefully, a bright and undisguised smile spreading across his face.

"Little Li, Little Li! Your brain and your hands are amazing! Not only can you find problems, but you can also solve them! Great! A real talent!"

For a moment, Ling Gong was glad that Li Kailang had come to the steel rolling mill and the technical department.

The technician Zhang and the workers standing nearby also cast admiring glances at him.

A college graduate who just arrived solved a problem that even the experienced workers were struggling with on his first day working with Engineer Ling. His skills are truly remarkable!

Li Kailang wiped his sweat and said modestly, "Not at all, it was all thanks to Engineer Ling's support that I had the confidence."

"Stop being modest! Praise him when he deserves it!" Engineer Ling waved his hand, in high spirits, and led Li Kailang back.

"We need to have a serious talk with Old Wang."

Before leaving, he reminded the workers not to pour the wrong oil again before he left with peace of mind.

(End of this chapter)