Chapter 25 Transmission Type Cutting Machine Tools (1)

  In the evening, Zhang Lei hurried back home and took a bath. He was really exhausted from today's work and didn't even feel like cooking dinner. They had to wait until Zhang Chen came back before they could have dinner together as a family.

  "Brother, it's your first day of school today, how does it feel?" Zhang Lei asked. Whether Zhang Chen can make a career for himself is related to whether Zhang Lei can make a big show in his own field, so he is naturally very concerned.

  Zhang Chen mumbled with his mouth full: "Mmm, it's okay, the boss is pretty good."

  When he said that, Zhang Lei felt at ease. Zhang Chen was originally a very intelligent person, as long as he was willing to study hard and there were no underhanded dealings, it would be easy for him to pass the exam and become a child prodigy.

  After dinner, the whole family went to bed early, as they all had their own things to attend to the next morning.

  But Zhang Lei lay in bed and couldn't sleep, the words he said today scared himself too, especially "emperors, kings, generals, and ministers", what a joke, fortunately they were in the corner at that time, if someone else heard it, that would be a capital offense, and with the crime of treason, even exterminating nine clans would be possible.

  "Alas, freedom of speech, whether in the past life or this life, has always been unaware of what the four words 'freedom of speech' mean, but only been propagandized by the state machine to deceive people's hearts. But doing so can't be said to be wrong, as the ultimate purpose of any class doing anything is to serve the interests of that class, just like if I became an emperor, I would absolutely not allow others to also become emperors."

  ……

  Today was really too exhausting, even though his brain was still very active, but after a while of random thinking, Zhang Lei fell asleep unknowingly.

  When Zhang Lei got up in the morning, he began to consider the machine tool cutting bed. Because there was no engine and no electricity, it was impossible to achieve mechanization, and only manpower could be relied on. When he saw the gurgling water flowing in the nest lake, he thought of using hydraulic energy, but later found it unrealistic, so he had to think of another way.

  After two people spent all day yesterday and most of today, by the time they were about to finish work in the afternoon, that piece of wood had finally turned into dozens of neat and hard wooden boards, which would be transported onto the warship called Songdao.

  With difficulty, the wooden board was transported to the bottom of the warship, and a very long rope and a large iron hook were hung from the side of the ship. Zhang Baosheng skillfully tied the wooden board firmly with the rope and suspended it on the hook.

  Looking at the person above, both hands easily transported hundreds of kilograms of wood up there. Zhang Lei finally decided to adopt a lever to move away from the water source, using gear transmission to increase energy and drive the steel saw to rotate at high speed, thereby achieving the purpose of quickly cutting firewood. Moreover, this method not only can realize the function of a cutting machine, but also get rid of the restriction of region by leaving the water power.

  In the afternoon, Zhang Lei organized his ideas and drew a diagram on paper. The structure of the cutting machine was actually very simple, with a large steel plate as the working surface, and in the middle of this steel plate, there were vertical steel saws that resembled tank treads. Through the engine driving the steel saw to rotate at high speed, the wood was cut off.

  However, Zhang Lei now needs to solve how to generate such a large amount of energy without an engine. In the end, he thought of gears. By fixing small gears on the hand crank and driving slightly larger gears, it goes up layer by layer until the last giant gear with a diameter of five feet. This way, when the small gear rotates one circle, the large gear must also rotate one circle. Due to the radius relationship, the speed of the large gear will be very fast.

  After a long period of consideration and improvement, the shape of the cutting machine was finally determined. Zhang Lei put all the gear transmission systems in a large box, and then extended a huge handle from the top of the box. By quickly turning this handle, all the gears could be driven to rotate. On top of this box, there was a steel plate with a gap in the middle, just exposing one foot of the largest gear. This largest gear had been processed, with its edges ground into sharp saw teeth. In this way, it directly replaced the steel saw blade and became the cutting device.

  When Zhang Lei found Chen Lao Chui with this well-designed thing, it was after the repair of that batch of warships. Entering the cold winter season, the grass and trees were withered and yellow, and there would still be frost on the ground when getting up in the morning.

  "This is..." When he saw that thick stack of drawings, Chen Laotie was startled and looked around, but had no idea what this thing was.

  Zhang Lei explained the origin and function of this thing to him, and Chen Lao Chui listened, couldn't help but admire Zhang Lei's ingenuity: "Big nephew, your uncle has no culture, but I know that every time you bring something over for me to do, it can change my understanding, just like this one. I never thought that with just two people, we could cut a log as thick as a foot into any shape we want."

  "Hammer uncle, as long as you are willing to think, anything is possible. Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore, let's just hurry up and make this thing. See if we can finish making these things before the end of the year. I'll assemble one and try out its effect." If this cutting machine really works as well as imagined, then Zhang Baosheng's future work will undoubtedly be much easier, which would be a reward for him.

  Chen Lao Chui, who always readily agreed with Zhang Lei's words, was unusually out of character today. He smiled wryly and said: "Big nephew, you still overestimate your Uncle Chui. The thing you designed is too ingenious, and it's almost the end of the year now. I'm afraid it won't be done before New Year's."

  "What can I do? I really want to see the effect, if it can be done, then next spring, it will be able to work on the dock." Zhang Lei said somewhat depressed.

  Chen Lao Chui thought for a moment and said, "How about this, big nephew? You have these parts separated and let many people work on them together. When the time comes, they can be assembled together, and it will be very fast. I'm afraid it won't take half a month to make it for you."

  "What a great idea! How come I didn't think of that? Alright, I'll go find someone right now. Hammer Uncle, you've been in this line for so long, do you know where there's an ironmaster with skills as superb as yours?" Zhang Lei slapped his forehead, he hadn't even thought of dividing the labor, it was a real mistake.

  Chen Lao said, "Of course there are. Let's not mention Zhou Tiejiang on the dock, his craftsmanship is the best. The Zhou family iron shop he opened must have been seen by you on the dock as well. He and two other masters run it together, and the knives and swords they make are very famous in this area. It's said that even the imperial court has come to order from them before. They also do a great job with small items like arrowheads, those precise little things can be entrusted to them without error."

  Zhang Lei nodded and said: "Okay, I've got it. Is that all? They probably can't finish eating so many things as a family."

  "It should be about right, his iron shop has no one else but him, and he also brought three apprentices, who are all quite good, although they had already graduated a few years ago, but still stayed in the shop to work." Old Chen explained with a smile.

  Zhang Lei thought for a moment, so the five people came together to do it, and the speed should be about the same. He said: "Okay, I'll go visit them now. Ah, Hammer Uncle, I still want to say one more thing, you have to adjust your rest well, you see, you haven't had a good rest lately because of my things, right? If you're tired, Daxiong will find me to fight to the death. This is not urgent, take your time."

  "Alright, alright, this Uncle Hammer has a good sense of numbers, he's got it all figured out. Sigh, people get old, can't compare to when they were young, if it were ten years ago, I could hammer iron for two days straight without breaking a sweat." Old Man Chen sighed.

  The two men spoke a few more words, and then Zhang Lei bid farewell to Chen Lao Chui and went to the dock to find the Zhou family's iron shop. At this moment, the door of the iron shop was wide open, with two furnaces burning brightly inside, where dozens of young and strong men were working, apparently making some ordinary tools.

  "Is Master Zhou in?" Zhang Lei shouted from outside.

  Perhaps it was because the sound of ironing was too loud, no one heard, Zhang Lei raised his voice and called again, only then did a middle-aged man stop what he was doing and said: "Sir, are you here to find my master? Please wait for a moment, I'll go call him out."

  Zhang Lei nodded, and after a while, a man in his fifties wearing a long gown came out of the courtyard and met Zhang Lei in the reception hall.

  "This is my master." The middle-aged man introduced and then bid farewell and left.

  "Zhangshi Technology, Zhang Lei, nice to meet you Master Zhou. I was introduced by Uncle Chen Laochui."

  "Chen Lao Tui? Zhang Lei? Oh, I remember now, you're that Zhang Lei who's always coming up with strange and weird things?" Boss Zhou thought for a moment before seeming to recall.

  "It's an honor to be heard by Master Zhou, I'm truly humbled." Zhang Lei said with a bow.

  Master Zhou smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Alright, alright, don't say those useless things anymore. It's tiring to talk to you educated people, always bringing up irrelevant things that make me feel uneasy. Speak directly, what do you plan to do this time you've come to find me?"

  "Master Zhou was originally a sentimental person, and it's really underestimating him. This time, I'm prepared to invite Master Zhou out of retirement to help me with some things. Don't worry, the labor costs are not a problem, as long as the thing is done well." Zhang Lei said with a smile.

  After hearing Zhang Lei's words, Zhou Shifu burst out laughing and said: "Didn't Old Chen tell you that I haven't personally taken action for a long time?"