Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 16

“So, she’s your sister-in-law.”

“What? I thought she was a girlfriend you left back in your hometown.”

Channing sat down on a chair and took a deep breath while listening to the Factory Manager and Richel’s conversation.

“Leave her back in my hometown? You know very well that my hometown is in this area, even if it’s a bit far. You’ve known Richel for a long time too. Why are you acting so surprised?”

“Hahaha! That’s true. You used to follow your father to our restaurant when he came to sell vegetables. Well, even though it’s true, I don’t know your village well, so that’s why I said that.”

Richel responded to Channing’s rebuke with a chuckle, and Channing sighed again.

“Here’s some water.”

“Thank you, Illia.”

Illia brought water to Channing, and he drank it all in one gulp.

“Then I’ll be going. I might get scolded by my mother if I’m late.”

After Richel, who had laughed heartily, said goodbye and went outside, Channing got up from his seat.

“More importantly, I’m sorry, Factory Manager-nim. I suddenly took the order…”

“No, it’s alright. It’s something you’ll be making. I won’t touch it.”

“What?!”

Channing asked back in surprise, and the Factory Manager replied while taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

“How would I know how to make a sickle used in this area? The one who’s used it should make it. Yeah. Rather than that, why are you so surprised to see your sister-in-law? Anyone would think you just met your first love.”

The Factory Manager casually threw the words, and Channing blushed, not knowing what to do.

Watching him closely, the Factory Manager sighed and took a drag of his cigarette.

“You’re an idiot. Did you leave home because your first love became your sister-in-law?”

“Well… something like that…”

Channing confessed as if spitting out the words.

Illia’s eyes lit up as she sat down on a chair, and the Factory Manager stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“Ah. Why are you all so expectant?”

“Other people’s love stories are always fun. Stop beating around the bush and just spill it all.”

“I’m curious too.”

Channing sighed again and opened his mouth as if there was no other choice.

“She was just the older sister who lived next door. Both our families were farmers, so our parents were busy with farm work, so the kids played and helped with the work together. So, I spent a lot of time with Charlie noona since I was young. That’s how it happened. But then she married my brother. Well, technically, my brother is older than Charlie noona, more mature, and he’ll inherit our father’s farm… So I just ran away from home and got a job at a farm in a village a little further away from ours. Even though the owner of that farm went bankrupt because of gambling. It’s not that interesting of a story.”

“So it’s an unrequited first love where you couldn’t even confess. What’s with this boring story that’s not even good enough for a drink?”

“I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“Oh, come on! I told you because you asked! More importantly, Illia, why are you, a little kid, so excited about that kind of story?”

When Channing shouted, Illia burst into laughter.

“Haa… Let’s make the sickle first. Factory Manager-nim. It’s okay to use a stainless steel plate, right?”

“Do as you please.”

With the Factory Manager’s permission, Channing went to the corner, took out a stainless steel plate, and walked to the workbench.

“A sickle is quite a large item. Some have blades that are over a meter long.”

Channing began to draw the shape of the blade on the stainless steel plate.

“Of course, it doesn’t have to be that long, so I’m thinking of making it about 60cm. The sickle we used at home was about that length.”

After drawing the shape of the blade on the stainless steel plate with a ruler and a marker, Channing clamped the plate in a vise and started cutting it with a hand grinder.

After making a vertical groove along the shape of the blade with a cutting blade, Channing moved the hand grinder according to the drawn shape. Small pieces of iron began to fall down.

Channing flipped the plate over and cut out the back of the blade in the same way.

After clamping the slightly unevenly cut blade in the vise again, Channing replaced the hand grinder blade with a grinding wheel and started to roughly grind it.

The shape was roughly formed.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

“Thank you.”

Channing smiled at the Factory Manager’s compliment and turned on the belt sander to start grinding it overall.

Sparks and iron dust flew, but Channing, with a serious expression, carefully shaped the blade.

After finishing the roughly ground back and blade, Channing started to sharpen the blade using the rotating part of the belt sander. With skillful hands, he sharpened the blade with a serious expression.

Turning the blade this way and that, Channing sharpened it little by little, then took off his goggles and mask and carefully checked the state of the blade.

“I think it’s well made, right?”

“It seems you’ve learned something.”

The Factory Manager, who replied to Channing, who was holding up the blade and speaking, took out a cigarette and lit it, then got up from his chair and walked somewhere.

Channing looked at him, smiled, and turned on the bench grinder to sharpen the blade.

“You’ve gotten good at this.”

“It’s been a few months since I started working.”

After answering Illia, Channing clamped the sharpened blade in a vise and started to heat only the blade part of the sickle with an oxy-fuel torch.

The blade part became red hot, and Channing quickly released the vise and put the blade into an oil tank in the corner. There was a sizzling sound and vaporized oil smoke rose.

After wiping the heat-treated blade with a cloth, Channing checked the condition of the blade by looking at it from various angles.

“It’s well made, even though I made it.”

“Now you have to make the handle.”

“Yeah. I’m going to make it with a lightweight aluminum pipe. Since it’s something you have to swing all day while working, it’ll be tiring if it’s too heavy.”

Channing pulled out a suitable pipe from where the pipes were gathered.

After placing the pipe on the workbench, Channing measured it with a tape measure, scribbled something on paper with a pencil for a while, and finally marked the aluminum pipe with a marker and cut it with a manual pipe cutter.

“Wow. This is more complicated than I thought.”

“The Factory Manager doesn’t seem to worry about it that much.”

“He’s different from me. I’m still a newbie. By the way, where did the Factory Manager-nim go?”

“He said he was going to the warehouse.”

Channing nodded and went to where the tools were gathered and brought another tool. It was a slightly unusual-looking tool with two handles.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a pipe bender. You insert it in the gap here and bend it by pressing the handles.”

Channing inserted the cut aluminum pipe and started bending it into shape by pressing the handles.

After bending it into a shape like a widely spread S, Channing checked if it was bent properly by looking at it from various angles and placed it on the workbench.

“You have to attach the handles too, right?”

“Yeah, two. I’m going to make those two with aluminum pipes and attach them.”

After clamping one of the pre-cut short aluminum pipes in a vise, Channing carved a T-shaped groove on the blade with a hand grinder cutting blade.

Then, he grabbed the cut part with pliers, spread it out well, and clamped it in a vise to flatten it. He then placed it against an iron pipe of the same thickness as the pipe he brought and started hammering it.

The short aluminum pipe transformed into a shape with a round ring attached under the long handle.

After making the other short pipe into the same shape, Channing inserted the handle into the long aluminum pipe and checked the distance to position it correctly.

“It’s starting to look like something.”

“This is nothing. Now I have to fix it.”

“Welding?”

Channing shook his head at Illia’s words and started rummaging through the toolbox.

“Aluminum is difficult to weld. So this time, I’m going to fix it in a different way.”

What Channing was holding in his hand was a cordless drill and a hand riveter that looked like pliers.

“I’m going to use rivets. Because it’s a pipe. Rivets should be enough. The rivets used in blacksmithing are heated and hammered, but this one is very convenient because you just have to press it. Honestly, this is more convenient than welding.”

Channing drilled holes where the handles were connected, fixed a rivet in the riveter, inserted it into the hole, and pressed the handle firmly.

With a creaking sound, the handle was firmly fixed.

After riveting on both sides for extra strength, Channing did the same for the other handle and carefully ground the sharp parts with a hand grinder sanding wheel.

“Ooh! It’s sturdy, sturdy!”

Channing swung the handle a few times, smiled, and put down the finished handle.

“How are you going to attach the blade?”

“I’ve thought of everything, so just watch, young lady. You’re such a curious little kid. Don’t you have anything else to do? You’re just watching me work?”

“I’ve done all the laundry and cleaning. It’s fun watching you and the mister make things. So, how are you going to do it? Rivets again?”

“This time, I’ll use bolts and nuts. It’s difficult to sharpen the blade when the handle is attached.”

Channing lifted the blade he had finished earlier and then slapped his forehead.

“Oh no! I didn’t give it an angle. I’m such an idiot!”

Channing clamped the blade in the vise fixed to the table and lifted the L-shaped tang of the sickle that protruded to the side with pliers.

The L-shaped protruding part had a greater angle than the blade part.

“Why are you giving it an angle there?”

“That’s so that when you swing it down towards the ground, it cuts the grass or crops straight. Otherwise, it would cut diagonally.”

“You’re truly a farmer’s son.”

Channing smiled at Illia’s compliment and brought two thin and short pieces of wood from where the wood was piled up.

After inserting a small iron plate of the same thickness as the blade between the two pieces of wood and clamping them in a vise, Channing started to polish the wood with a hand grinder sanding wheel.

After polishing, inserting a piece of aluminum pipe of the same diameter as the handle, and polishing again, Channing cut the piece off when the wood was sufficiently shaved.

“This is how you insert it into the pipe.”

After showing the piece of wood to Illia, Channing folded the piece of wood on the tang of the blade and inserted it into the hole of the handle.

Since he intentionally made it tight, it wouldn’t go in all the way after about 1/3, and Channing hammered the tang hard.

When the tang went all the way in, the blade was fixed without any shaking, and Channing smiled and drilled two holes.

It took a little time because the stainless steel tang got in the way, but he quickly drilled both holes.

After inserting bolts and nuts into the holes and tightening them firmly with a ratchet, Channing lifted the sickle and swung it a few times.

“Ooh! Good! It’s well made. What do you think?”

Channing, who completed the sickle with his own hands, smiled proudly, and Illia also smiled and applauded.

“What’s all the commotion about? Again?”

The Factory Manager, who was entering the factory, asked while looking at the two, and Channing held up the sickle.

“I finished it.”

“Oh? Already? You’ve gotten a lot faster.”

The Factory Manager placed the dusty box he was carrying on the table and took the sickle from Channing’s hand to examine it.

“Are these two vertical things the handles?”

“Yes. Those are the handles.”

At Channing’s words, the Factory Manager grabbed the handles and swung it around, then placed the sickle on the workbench and walked over to where various miscellaneous parts were gathered and started rummaging through the boxes.

After searching for a while, the Factory Manager brought a black part.

“You idiot. If the handles and the cut edges are sharp, people will get hurt while using it.”

The Factory Manager rebuked Channing and put a rubber tube over the vertical handle. It was a handle tube with a closed top and protrusions, used to cover the handles of things like handcarts.

After struggling to put on the tube that wouldn’t go in easily, the Factory Manager then put a plastic cap on the cut edge at the back.

“You have to pay attention to these finishing touches. You have to think carefully when making tools. Because the person using it shouldn’t get hurt.”

“I didn’t know such a thing existed.”

“Remember it well. By the way, you made it quite usable. It’s a good choice to use aluminum to make it light and to use rivets because welding is difficult. It was also a good idea to fix the blade with bolts so that it can be removed for maintenance.”

Channing smiled at the Factory Manager’s praise.

“By the way, Factory Manager-nim, where did you go?”

“I went to the warehouse to find this.”

In response to Channing’s question, the Factory Manager opened the box he had brought, and inside were quite large lumps of iron and processed pieces of iron.

“Uh… what is this?”

“These are press dies, and these are pieces processed for spoons.”

The Factory Manager took the box and approached the press machine in the corner of the factory.

“Spoons? Did you get an order from somewhere? You already supplied Richel’s restaurant with spoons before, Factory Manager-nim.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I brought this for you to make and take.”

“Take it where?”

The Factory Manager looked at Channing with a dumbfounded expression at his question.

“Where else, you idiot! To your house! You said you were going to deliver the sickle. Are you going to just trot over there with only the sickle? You should take something else with you. Stop chattering and come here and help me change the dies!”

At the Factory Manager’s shout, Channing hurriedly went to the press machine.

After changing all the dies, the Factory Manager handed Channing a piece of iron. It was shaped like a long handle with a flat, square part attached to the front.

“If you put that shape into the mold here and press the button, a spoon will come out.”

“Yes. That’s easy.”

“Then try making it.”

At the Factory Manager’s words, Channing sighed and inserted the piece of iron into the press machine and pressed the button.

With a clang, the press machine moved up and down, and the inserted piece of iron was neatly shaped into a spoon.

“You’re doing well. Keep it up.”

The Factory Manager stood behind him with his arms crossed and watched Channing, who sighed and pushed the next piece into the press machine.

Channing’s family consisted of his parents, his older brother and his wife, and his younger brother, a total of six people.

After making all six spoons, the Factory Manager came over and examined the spoons.

“How is it? Is it manageable?”

“There’s nothing difficult about it. This much is easy.”

“Then make more.”

At the Factory Manager’s words, Channing held up a finished spoon and looked at him.

“There are six people in my family.”

“You idiot. Your sister-in-law is going to have a baby too. Do you think she’ll only have one?”

Channing looked at the Factory Manager with a surprised expression at his words.

“I’m telling you to make more and take them home, thinking about that too. There’s a saying that you give a spoon to a baby so they won’t have to worry about food for the rest of their lives.”

Channing nodded and made more spoons, and the Factory Manager took the spoons Channing made and polished the surface neatly.