I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 11 This is truly excellent gun steel!

In a ravine northwest of Wujiabao, a makeshift blast furnace is rapidly taking shape.

It is indeed a makeshift blast furnace, built entirely of mud bricks.

Its interior is made of fired refractory bricks, and its outer layer is made of loess bricks for insulation.

Chen Changzai did want to design a side-blown converter.

However, it's not possible right now. Many basic conditions are not yet met, so we can only make do with what we have.

Chen Changzai was still capable of designing steelmaking furnaces.

At the time, the military factory where he worked was not so convenient to coordinate with outside sources because it had many spare parts.

So the factory built a blast furnace for ironmaking and designed a side-blown converter, which was later changed to a top-blown oxygen converter.

It is used to cast some special parts needed by military factories.

Many large enterprises back then were basically small societies, except for the birth, aging, illness and death of their workers.

Even the industrial supply chain is mostly self-sufficient, rarely relying on outsiders.

Currently, due to limited conditions, we can only smelt iron in a blast furnace first, and then send the molten iron to a steel-frying pool to fry steel using the traditional steel-frying method.

However, Chen Changzai believed that a basic steel plant could be established in no time.

If his steam engine succeeds, then the steam engine, as a power source, will enable a steel mill to enter the realm of semi-automation.

By then, producing 100 tons of steel in a single furnace will no longer be a fantasy.

The headquarters was there to support Chen Changzai's steam engine manufacturing plan.

Six or seven experienced workers were specially transferred from the steel plant directly under the headquarters.

These experienced craftsmen are masters of everything from iron smelting to steelmaking, from casting to pouring.

They all brought their apprentices with them to support Chen Changzai.

During this time, Chen Changzai was not idle either.

He and the carpenters made another steam engine out of hardwood. The main function of this steam engine was to blow air into the blast furnace and the steel frying tank.

Although this steam engine is made of hardwood, its lifespan is not very long.

But it works fine for a month or two.

More than half a month later, thanks to everyone's efforts, the blast furnace was finally able to produce molten iron.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the molten iron, glowing red-hot, flowed into the steel frying tank.

The molten iron in the frying pan is constantly being stirred.

Their carbon content is also constantly changing.

In the eyes of experienced craftsmen, changes in the color of molten iron are simply changes in its carbon content.

They are able to control the carbon content of the molten iron in the frying pan based on experience.

What Chen Changzai needed was medium carbon steel, which, while meeting the hardness requirements, also ensured a certain level of toughness.

The mold makers had already used the lost-wax casting method to fire hundreds of molds of various sizes, following Chen Changzai's blueprints.

Inside the casting sandbox, it is ready to be filled with molten steel at any time.

The pouring master, along with his apprentice, is ready to begin pouring at any time.

The steelworker shouted that it was ready.

The casting master immediately led his apprentices to pour molten steel into the mold using a crucible.

Steel casting seems simple; it's just a matter of pouring molten iron into a mold.

However, this is a job that requires a high level of technical skill and is very experience-dependent.

Whether it's mold temperature control, the influence of ambient temperature, or the flow rate of molten steel into the mold, all of these factors affect the quality of the castings.

An inexperienced person will fail ten times out of ten when casting.

If a master craftsman can achieve a success rate of 90%, then he is undoubtedly a master recognized by everyone.

Even in later generations, such master craftsmen were considered the most valuable assets of large foundries.

Even by 2025, automated casting equipment will not be able to guarantee a 90% success rate.

The pouring master who came to Chen Chang here today can achieve a 90% success rate.

As molten steel is continuously fed into the mold...

The blueprints of the past, the wood of the future, and now the steel-cast "Shangyou" steam engine are slowly taking shape thanks to the combined efforts of hundreds of people.

After demolding, initial repair, and final repair.

Under the caresses of rough, large hands, each of those heavy steel fittings became refined and smooth, like works of art.

Three days.

As Chen Changzai led his men to assemble the steam engine bit by bit, he explained the function and working principle of each component to his new students.

There are more than fifty students in this group.

They were all selected from the entire army by headquarters staff; they were skillful, dexterous, and had a knack for machinery.

Some of them had experience with machinery, while others had not. Some had attended school, while others had not.

But now they are all extremely serious, following Chen Changzai in assembling each metal part repeatedly.

Opportunities to assemble a machine are rare; we are not yet luxurious enough to build them a steam engine for them to assemble and learn from at will.

The only thing they were able to disassemble and reassemble before was the simple wooden steam engine that Chen Changzai, along with the carpenters and the soldiers of the special agent squad, had assembled for experimental purposes.

Now that they had the opportunity to assemble a real steam engine, everyone cherished it immensely. They were very careful, constantly learning and exploring under Chen Changzai's guidance.

When the last rivet is riveted in place.

This steam engine, which was converted into a stationary mechanical power source, was finally born, becoming known as the "Shangyou" steam engine in later generations.

When the coal in the steam engine furnace is burning red-hot and the water in the boiler is boiling.

The pointer on the pressure gauge slowly rotated, indicating the pressure inside the boiler.

A barometer is actually very simple; inside it is just a Bourdon tube made of rolled copper sheet.

The Bourdon tube deforms due to changes in pressure within the tube, which in turn causes changes in the pointer.

The closest thing to a borough is a toy children play with called a "blower," which is a small, flat tube that is rolled up when you're not blowing on it.

With a breath, it transforms into a straight, elongated tube.

If you stop blowing, it retracts and becomes a rolled-up little flat tube.

This little toy works on the same principle as the Bourdon tube.

When the pressure gauge needle points to 1.5 MPa, the exhaust valve is opened.

A loud exhaust sound rang out, and the pressure began to stabilize.

At this moment, Chen Chang pulled a control lever, opening the passage from the pressure boiler to the cylinder.

High-pressure dehydration steam with enormous pressure rushed into the cylinder.

The piston in the cylinder begins to be pushed.

Chen Changzai used asbestos-coated copper gaskets, which provided excellent sealing.

There was not a single leak under such high pressure.

The piston connecting rod sliding hole is sealed with a combination of bronze and tanned cowhide by Chen Changzai, which provides a good seal and prevents air leakage.

After the flywheel shaft is connected to the gearbox by the sliding sleeve, the gearbox runs smoothly without any abnormal noise or vibration.

Lubricating oil derived from petroleum has excellent lubrication properties.

Finally, when the gearbox output shaft is connected to the sliding sleeve, there is a five-ton forging hammer in the middle, and a door-frame shaped steel forging table.

The five-ton forging hammer was slowly lifted up.

As the forging hammer was lifted, the forging workers, who were already prepared, immediately placed a red-hot steel bar underneath it.

When the forging hammer rises to two meters, the escapement mechanism is activated, and the forging hammer falls vertically under the guidance of the guide rail.

With a loud "thud," sparks flew everywhere, and the red-hot steel rod immediately deformed.

Then the forging hammer was caught again by the escapement mechanism and pulled up.

Then it falls.

This process was repeated until the thick steel rod was repeatedly forged.

The crude steel that was once crude steel has now become fine steel.

It has become qualified high-quality steel that can be used to make gun barrels.

When the master craftsman from the headquarters' directly affiliated firearms factory picked up the steel rod that had already cooled down.

After gently tapping it with a small iron rod.

With the tapping motion, a crisp and melodious "ding~" sound rang out.

Upon hearing this voice, the old master suddenly couldn't stop his tears from flowing.

"This is good gun steel! This is really good gun steel! We can finally make really good gun steel!"

We no longer have to worry about the barrel exploding.

We can make really good guns now, really good guns.

As the experienced worker finished speaking, everyone who had been working continuously for over a month cheered.

Some of these people jumped up and burst into laughter.

Some people, however, squatted down and cried silently.

Not easy.

It's really not easy.

Now we can actually make real gun steel.

Chen Changzai simply lit a pipe he had rolled himself and silently sat down on a rock.

He smoked a cigarette while watching the cheering crowd.

(End of this chapter)