Reborn Treasure Appraiser: I Really Didn’t Want to Be an Expert

Chapter 48 Six Filling and Six Burning
With a soft "ding" sound, Lin Sicheng walked out of the testing room holding the sunflower plate.

Shang Yan came back to her senses, leaned back from the chair, and looked very strange.

Lin Sicheng didn't know that Wang Qizhi had sold him out, so he felt very surprised: He just operated the machine, why would Professor Shang be so shocked?
"Professor Shang, what's wrong?"

"nothing!"

“Oh, so I made the glaze?”

Are you not going to act anymore?
At the very least, shouldn't I check the records to see if there are any errors in the voltage excitation, whether the balance signal is stable, or if there are any abnormalities in the calibration curve?
Muttering to herself, Shang Yan glanced at the computer: Forget it, what else is there to look at?

Are the values ​​in the report normally the same as those filled in by hand?
Seeing that she was silent, Lin Sicheng took it as her agreement and pointed to the material box he had brought from Wang Qizhi's laboratory:

"Assistant Professor Feng, please prepare the materials."

"Hey, good..."

Feng Lin, who had been huddled in the corner like an invisible person, was stunned and stood up quickly.

"Senior Sister Li, prepare the glaze...Senior Sister Li?"

After shouting twice in a row, Li Zhen came back to his senses, as if he had just woken up.

It's normal, I was numb from the shock...

Lin Sicheng glanced at her and nodded at the table: "Remember!"

Li Zhen blushed and quickly took the paper and pen.

"Base Glaze: Natural Minerals: Red Lead 40%, Borax 20%, Quartz and Feldspar 10% each... Oxidants: Potassium Oxide... Calcium Oxide... Cobalt Oxide... Copper Oxide... Iron Oxide... Arsenic Oxide...

Key points: melt in a furnace at 900 degrees, quench in water to form granules, and grind to above 200 mesh..."

"Colored glaze, one, dark green, mixed in eight shades: copper oxide, iron oxide... then medium green... then light green... temperature 800, fired in oxygen-enriched sintering, granulated into 200 mesh..."

"Two, light pink... Three, golden yellow... Four, crimson... Five, bright silver..."

"Assistant Professor Feng, prepare the copper base... area... thickness... tempered copper wire, width... length... also prepare white hyacinth and quick-drying glue..."

As soon as Lin Sicheng opened his mouth, Wang Qizhi was stunned: Why doesn’t the ratio he mentioned match the test analysis report?

Looking at the original glaze sample test: feldspar accounts for 35%, but Lin Sicheng's glaze ratio only accounts for 10%?

In the report, borax only accounts for 5%, but in the new ratio it accounts for 20%.

Especially the red lead, which only accounts for 10% in the original glaze, but accounts for 40% in the new ratio?

The key point is that Wang Qizhi can't remember which bronze or porcelain glaze is made like this: red lead and borax are used in greater quantities than feldspar and quartz?

He frowned, pondering the principle behind it, when he heard a murmur like a dream in his ears.

"He really would...he actually would?"

Turning around, Shang Yan's eyes were open, fixed on Lin Sicheng's face like hooks.

No... your teaching assistant is like this, are you like this too?
Is it that exaggerated?
"Professor Shang...Professor Shang?"

"Oh oh... Professor Wang, you say."

"Why is the glaze ratio so weird?"

Shang Yan sighed deeply: "It's very strange, but it's true!"

Wang Qizhi was stunned: "What kind of statement is this?"

"First, it helps with fluxing, second, it strengthens the structure, and third, it maintains the fluidity of the glaze during the blueing process. Most importantly, it matches the copper base and adjusts the thermal expansion coefficient of the glaze, while also keeping the furnace temperature as low as possible during the secondary blueing process..."

I estimate that the furnace temperature during the restoration will not exceed 700°C, and should basically be controlled between 650 and 700°C. The possibility of the original glaze layer cracking again is unlikely..."

Wang Qizhi immediately understood: If he applied the glaze according to the ratio in the test report, the furnace temperature would have to be at least 800 degrees, but the original glaze layer would definitely crack. So Lin Sicheng simply re-adjusted the glaze and lowered the furnace temperature.

"But this means the base glaze is diluted many times. How can the color expression, glaze gloss and texture be guaranteed?"

"So, he mixed five more colored glazes... which means he had to apply the blue at least six times and put it into the furnace six times... to achieve a gradient effect, in order to match the glaze layer of the original vessel..."

After a brief pause, Shang Yan frowned again: "But as far as I know, so far, only Professor Yang Shiqi and Professor Qi Haonan of the Palace Museum have used a similar method when they restored a Qing Dynasty copper-based gilt transparent enamel flower basket clock... Apart from them, there has never been another..."

Wang Qizhi finally understood why Shang Yan was so shocked: this method was difficult, and extremely difficult.

He considered himself a layman, but that was a relative term. At least he was well aware of the effects of temperature on coloring oxidants and color gradation.

If the temperature differs by one degree, the color rendering index after sintering can differ by more than ten degrees.

Does this mean that Lin Sicheng has increased the difficulty of repairing this disk several times?
As for whether it would succeed... Seeing Shang Yan's expression, as if she had seen a ghost, Wang Qizhi instinctively thought it was unlikely. But considering his understanding of Lin Sicheng: the more you think it's impossible, the more likely he is...

Just as he was guessing randomly, he heard a "click" sound in his ears. Wang Qizhi raised his head and his eyelids couldn't help twitching.

Lin Sicheng actually pried the fish tail off the bottom of the plate?
No... the repair hasn't even started yet, and you're already sabotaging it?

"Lin Sicheng, what are you doing?"

"To test the safe furnace temperature range?" Lin Sicheng said matter-of-factly, "Didn't we agree on that before?"

It was agreed upon, but you didn’t say you wanted to pry such a big piece?
Never mind, it's already been pried off. If he can't fix it, he still has Professor Lin as a backup...

Wang Qizhi waved his hand, meaning for him to continue.

Lin Sicheng was methodical: composition, pattern, pinching, gluing, welding, correction... basically he followed the pattern on the bottom of the plate and used copper wire to pinch and replicate the pattern of the two fish on a new copper plate.

It sounds simple, but it still shocked Wang Qizhi and Shang Yan.

First, it is accurate: use pliers to smooth and cut, and then use the clamp to bend, and you can pinch out the required curvature, and then stick it to the copper plate to make it fit perfectly.

At Lin Sicheng's request, Feng Lin was supposed to trim off any excess thread or patch up any minor gaps. But as the two fish were almost finished, she stood there, not even moving a finger.

Secondly, it was fast. From constructing the base plan to welding and correcting it, Lin Sicheng took less than an hour to piece together more than a hundred copper wires of varying sizes.

The key point is that the ratio with the pelvic floor pattern is almost one to one... It feels like Lin Sicheng has a ruler in his eyes?

Shang Yan looked at it for a long time, then sighed: "Professor Wang, if I asked you to pinch it, how long would it take you?"

Two to three hours...

Thoughts were turning subconsciously in his head, and the words were already on the tip of his tongue. Wang Qizhi suddenly said, "Why does it need to be measured in hours?"

Shang Yan was stunned for a moment, then curled her lips: You confessed without being asked!
I asked how long, who asked you how many hours?
Coincidentally, Li Zhen had prepared the base glaze, and Lin Sicheng began to add blue paint. Shang Yan and Wang Qizhi were concentrating on their work without blinking.

Seeing the blue gun (glaze-applying tool) in his hand, it was like he had grown an extra finger. The glaze powder seemed to have a spirit and automatically flowed to where it should flow. Shang Yan was too tired to complain.

I was just making fun of Wang Qizhi, but now it seems that I am not much stronger?
Just as she was secretly sighing, Lin Sicheng asked Li Zhen to start the furnace. Shang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly: The most critical part is coming.

Fill with glaze, put into the kiln, fire, let it cool naturally, take it out of the kiln...fill with glaze again, put it into the kiln again...

This happened over and over again, six times, and it was already the second day.

In reality, by the time the blue-point phase arrived, no assistants were needed, but Feng Lin and Li Zhen stayed. At most, they would take turns napping in the nearby rest room during each cooling period of three or more hours.

Shang Yan and Wang Qizhi had no choice: they couldn’t just postpone both days of classes, right?

But the two of them calculated the time and arrived at the meeting room before the furnace was opened for the last time.

There were only Li Zhen and Feng Lin in the laboratory. They were facing each other, staring at the sunflower plate on the table, not knowing what they were studying.

"You're here early?"

The two exchanged glances, and Wang Qizhi looked around again, "Where's Lin Sicheng?"

Li Zhen and Feng Lin quickly stood up and greeted him, "Professor Wang, Lin Sicheng went home this morning."

Wang Qizhi was stunned: "What is it?"

"He went home... After the last time he was in the furnace, you were in a meeting, so he didn't dare call you... But when he left, he told you:

When the time is up, all we have to do is lower it to room temperature, open the oven, place the pattern on the bottom of the basin, and take a picture for him. If there is any problem, he will come over immediately... We already took the picture, but he didn't come..."

Does that mean it's okay?

No... Why is this kid so careless?
Even though it was just a sample, it took two full days...

Cursing silently, Wang Qizhi walked to the table and glanced at it casually, but his eyelids couldn't stop twitching:

The basin wall is blue, and two koi are connected head to tail. One of them has a head and tail of red gold, and the scales on its back are like stars. The fish head pokes out of the water, rippling the water.
The other one was red and then pink, with a slightly arched body and a tail that stirred up a tiny vortex with a few drops of silver-like water suspended in the air.

Being pretty is secondary. The key is the vivid, fresh, harmonious and harmonious feeling it gives people... Wang Qizhi feels that the two fish at the bottom of the pelvis are born to look like this.

He even felt a little regretful. If he had known it would be so successful, he should have asked Lin Sicheng to make the repair directly instead of trying to burn any samples.

Sighing, he was about to ask Shang Yan for some comments, but just as he turned around, he leaned back suddenly: No, Professor Shang, are you exaggerating?

The man didn't move or blink, as if he wanted to dig out his eyeballs and embed them into the two fish.

He kept muttering, "Six fillings and six burnings... The clock in the Forbidden City was only burned five times..."

(End of this chapter)