Chapter 20: Hand-cranked Matchstick Holder (Collectors Wanted)

  This tool Zhang Lei didn't know what to call it, if it was for making beehive coal then it should be called a beehive coal machine, but that's not important. Under Chen Lao Tui's urging, he chose a relatively straight piece of pine wood, which he had soaked in water overnight and was now very soft.

  Put the pine wood on the flat ground, then cover it with a coal machine filled with sharp blades. Press hard and make a slight muffled sound. Zhang Lei quickly picked it up to see that all the small holes were filled with pine wood, leaving only some scraps on the ground.

  Zhang Lei disassembled the coal machine and suddenly felt very depressed. All the matchsticks were stuffed into the holes and couldn't be pulled out at all.

  Seeing this situation, the honest and simple-minded Chen Laotie thought he had done something wrong, so he quickly said: "Is it not good for you? Come on, I'll take it back and change it again. Alas, I'm getting old, some things are just not memorable anymore, don't blame me, young master."

  He was so spoken by him, Zhang Lei looked very embarrassed, this is purely his own design mistake, he said: "What Hammer Uncle said, you did a great job, better than I expected, it's my fault for not thinking clearly, how can I blame you? Let me think about it again and redesign it. I'll still need to trouble Hammer Uncle later."

  Hearing that it wasn't his fault, Old Chen let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest to guarantee: "That's good, that's good, don't worry, if you still need it, I'll get up in the middle of the night to do it for you."

  Zhang Lei was suddenly moved, all of this help had no benefit to themselves. In today's society, even brothers and sons would fight over inheritance, let alone strangers. Where can you find someone like Old Man Chen?

  "Hammer Uncle, what are you talking about? If I went to find you, wouldn't that delay your work?"

  Chen Lao furrowed his brow, and his voice suddenly rose by eight degrees: "You little brat, are you not taking me as your uncle seriously? You're speaking so casually. Not to mention business, even if I were to close down the iron shop, I'd be willing to follow you."

  Zhang Lei also felt a surge of confidence and promised, "Alright, with Uncle Hammer's words, I can rest assured. I guarantee that as long as I, Zhang Lei, can still jump around for one day, whatever I can eat, you and Da Yong will be able to eat too. Zhangshi Technology is currently developing rapidly, and when we make a lot of money, I'll let you and Da Yong live in big mansions, just like the White Mansion in town, with seven entrances and exits."

  "Bai Fu? You must be joking! If I could afford to live in a big tile house, I'd laugh all the way to sleep. How could I possibly afford such a large mansion? Old Master Bai is a renowned boss for miles around, how can I compare with him?" Chen Lao Chui waved his hands repeatedly.

  Zhang Lei knew that saying these things now was useless, so he changed the subject and said: "I'm talking about in the future, come on, let's not talk about this. It's getting late now, just have breakfast at my place. Xiao Chen, go call your brother Da Yong to come over and eat with us."

  "No, no, I'd better go back and eat." Chen Lao Chui excused himself, saying that farmers all have this habit.

  Zhang Lei grabbed his arm, with a straight face saying: "Hammer Uncle, you're being too polite, my home is not like your own home? In the past when I went to visit relatives didn't I always eat at your house? If you insist on going back to eat and making it so awkward, then how can I dare ask Hammer Uncle for help in the future?"

  Since Zhang Lei said so, Old Chen had nothing to say and agreed. During the time when Zhang Chen went out to call Chen Dayong, Zhang Lei personally went down to the kitchen to make a few small dishes.

  After having breakfast, Chen Lao Tui and Chen Da Yong continued to go back to their own work. Zhang Chen and Zhang Bao Sheng also went to the town to take care of the store. Originally, Zhang Bao Sheng wanted to do carpentry at home, but Zhang Lei didn't want him to be so tired, so he let him go to the store instead. He even gave him a small room on the second floor to make cigarette boxes. It's said that the numbering has already reached several hundred, but only a few dozen people can afford such good cigarettes. Although the profit is not high, Zhang Lei is not worried about it, because Yunwu cigarettes are selling well, and it won't take long for him to earn back the rent money.

  Because the matchstick was successfully made in the morning, this idea is not wrong. Now the place that needs to be improved is how to conveniently make the length of the matchstick and how to prevent the matchstick from getting stuck in the blade.

  After a long period of contemplation, Zhang Lei refound his inspiration and even abandoned the style of the coupling machine, adopting instead the method of chain transmission supercharging, and changing the up-and-down compression into left-and-right propulsion.

  In short, it is to make a table first, and then fix a jar filled with blades on it. The jar is placed upside down on the table, with the same sides on both sides, and the middle is filled with sharp blades. Then put a piece of wood on one side of the jar, and an iron hammer as a pressing object behind it. Connect the chain between the iron hammer and the jar, and add a transmission shaft like a bicycle pedal to the side of the table. By turning the transmission shaft, the iron hammer can be pushed to squeeze the pine wood, so that all operations can be completed with one hand.

  In terms of the length of the matchsticks, Zhang Lei also made adjustments. After the matchsticks pass through the can, they reach a length of one inch, and there is a baffle in front, which limits the length of the matchsticks. At this time, press down on a device similar to a guillotine, and all the matchsticks will be cut off and fall into a box pre-placed below through a funnel.

  With this complete set of tool designs, the production speed of matchsticks is not only fast and standardized, but also saves labor.

  After thinking for a long time, Zhang Lei really couldn't think of any other weaknesses, so he handed it over to Lao Chen to take a look.

  "Excellent, excellent, excellent! It's really excellent, my young friend. I truly admire you for being able to create something so exquisite and unparalleled. In all my years, it's the first time I've seen ironwork used in such a way. Let's get started right away!" Seeing the blueprints, Old Man Chen couldn't stop praising and was eager to start experimenting with the production immediately.

  Zhang Lei didn't stop him and said, "Then I won't bother Hammer Uncle. Now I'll go back and finish my desk. Once Hammer Uncle finishes making this thing, we can install it right away and try it out."

  "Alright, alright, you hurry up and go, I'm going to start work." Chen Lao Tui was so excited that his face turned bright red, and he couldn't care less about Zhang Lei anymore, and went on his own to the yard to make fire and hammer iron.

  It took a whole day to finish the table, and by noon the next day, Chen Lao Chui had also delivered the machinery he had worked on overnight. Looking at Chen Lao Chui's eyes, which were bloodshot from staying up all night, Zhang Lei felt moved and said: "Uncle Chui, what are you doing? I'm not in a hurry to use it, you should rest well at night, if you exhaust yourself, how can I explain to Da Yong?"

  "Ah, big nephew, you don't know, once you start this thing, you can't stop your hands, how can you sleep? You have to finish it in one breath."

  "Alright, alright, then let's have lunch at my place this afternoon and I'll treat you to a couple of drinks."

  Two men carried the thing named Matchstick Maker by Zhang Lei and nailed it onto a shelf. After bustling about for half an hour, they finally finished.

  "Hurry up and try it, hurry up and try it." Chen Lao Chui couldn't wait to see the magic of this treasure he had made with his own hands. Once everything was assembled, he urged Zhang Lei to come over.

  Zhang Lei was also excited and didn't wait for Old Man Chen to repeat himself before immediately going to find wood to conduct the experiment.

  As the iron hammer was about to succeed, the wood gradually approached the blade, but an unexpected accident occurred: the wood suddenly fell from the side.

  This result left Zhang Lei and Chen Lao Chui both stunned, the two of them circled around this thing back and forth, finally discovering that because wood had to be placed between the iron hammer and the can, this section was empty.

  The pine wood is easy to deviate in this section and cannot be smoothly fed into the blade cutting device, affecting efficiency.

  Because of his many years of experience in ironwork, Old Man Chen quickly came up with a plan: "Like this, Big Nephew, what do you think? We'll stretch out this can until it covers the iron pillar too. Then we can just put the wood directly into the can and it won't fall down anymore."

  After this reminder, Zhang Lei suddenly realized and said: "Uncle Hammer is right, we can pull the jar longer, then cut off the upper part here in front, use it to hold the wood, so that all are the same size, and then we can move on."

  Chen Lao said: "Yes, just like pulling a bellows, once it's fixed in place, it will never be pulled askew again."

  The two said to change, and immediately dismantled all the parts. Zhang Lei originally wanted to explain that he would deal with it tomorrow, but Chen Lao Chui didn't wait for him to finish speaking and ran back with his things, leaving Zhang Lei speechless.

  Because it was a modification, the time passed quickly. Chen Dajun was also called over by Chen Laotie, and the two worked together. By lunchtime, the new thing had already been made. When they brought it over for Zhang Lei to see, his first thought was that this thing looked like a mortar, using chains to push shells into the barrel before firing them out.

  "Alright, now it's done, you try it." Chen Lao Chui said after installing the matchstick holder.

  Zhang Lei put a piece of pine wood into it, then shook the handle. With a "ka-cha ka-cha" sound, the pine wood was cut into small strips. Then, with a few ups and downs of the knife, a bunch of matchsticks were made. Although a few broke, it didn't matter much.

  "It succeeded!"

  The three of them cheered up, and Zhang Lei finally let out a sigh of relief, having solved another difficult problem.

  The reason for being so obsessed with making matches is that the use of matches is really too great, the volume is lighter than flint, the cost is low, and it can be used anywhere, especially in the process of fighting and marching, this is simply a divine object. Moreover, compared to using a fire stick to ignite the fuse of guns and cannons, matches are more convenient and hidden.

  Just as the three of them were overjoyed, Zhang Chen brought someone over, and when Zhang Lei took a look, it was actually Yu Lao Ban, the tobacco seller who had given him a hard time at the opening of Zhang Shi Technology.