Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 28

While the Factory Manager was putting on his gloves and resuming work, he heard voices.

“I’m back.”

“We’re back.”

It was the voices of Channing and Tehez, coming through the back door. The Factory Manager glanced back and noticed Illia was not with them.

Before the Factory Manager could ask, Channing spoke first.

“Illia said she’d be back after playing with the kids.”

Channing said so and slumped down onto a chair.

“Ugh… I almost fell asleep… I was dying of sleepiness while the priest was talking.”

“Me too… I slept at 11 last night, so I feel like I’m going to die. Haaaahm.”

Tehez also sat down next to Channing and replied.

Seeing Tehez yawn widely and carelessly, the Factory Manager sighed and dragged the hoist to a corner of the factory to tie up an object that was placed there.

“By the way, what are you doing, Factory Manager-nim? You took off all the wagon wheels.”

“The ride is terrible. I’m going to add some suspension. Channing, you too, change your clothes and come help me.”

“Haahm… Alright.”

Channing got up from the chair and went upstairs, and Tehez had already fallen asleep, her head tilted back.

The Factory Manager maneuvered the hoist near the wagon, lowered the object, and began drawing lines here and there on the wagon with a tape measure and a pen.

Once he finished drawing the lines, Channing came down in his work clothes.

“So what can I do?”

“Drill holes where I marked. We’re going to put in 30mm bolts, so match them accordingly.”

“Yes. Yes. Got it.”

Channing picked up the drill and started looking for a drill chuck to fit it, and the Factory Manager started unwrapping an old object wrapped in newspaper.

Inside, there was an object with several layers of flat iron plates stacked together.

“What’s that?”

“Leaf-spring Suspension. It’s a stack of leaf springs. I got it from a junkyard. I’m going to attach this.”

“That? What’s it used for?”

“You’ll see! Just hurry up and drill the holes!”

Channing nodded and climbed onto the wagon and started drilling holes. Meanwhile, the Factory Manager examined the leaf springs.

It was used, but it was usable, so there was nothing to worry about. Since it was oiled, wrapped in newspaper, and well-wrapped in vinyl, there was no rust.

“I’ve drilled all the holes.”

Channing said, lifting the drill, and the Factory Manager handed him another part he had prepared.

“Here. Fix this.”

At the Factory Manager’s words, Channing placed the received part on the drilled location.

“Should I put in the bolts?”

“No.”

The Factory Manager pointed to the back of the wagon with his hand. After looking at that part once, Channing turned his head back to the Factory Manager.

“Why there?”

“Crawl in. And then stick the bolt out from inside.”

“Huh? Ah… Really! It would be better if we just stood it up and did it.”

Channing grumbled and lay down behind the wagon with a bag of bolts.

“I’m putting it in!”

“Okay!”

Channing struggled and inserted the long bolt through the hole, and the Factory Manager quickly fastened a nut onto the bolt. Only after connecting all four places could Channing get out.

“Ughhhh. I’m stiff!”

After all the bolts were fastened and Channing crawled out from under the wagon, his work clothes were completely white with dust.

Channing patted his clothes vigorously with his gloved hands, but the dust that had thoroughly settled was a mess and showed no sign of coming off.

The Factory Manager tightened the bolts with a ratchet wrench and then called Channing.

“Alright. Channing! Come here! Let’s fix this now.”

The Factory Manager securely fastened the hoist’s hook to the leaf spring and lifted it, carefully maneuvering the hoist to align the leaf spring with the part attached to the wagon floor.

After doing so, the Factory Manager shouted.

“Channing. Insert this square bolt into the hole at the end and tighten it as much as you can. Got it?”

“Yes, yes.”

Channing nodded and carefully aligned the hole in the part attached to the wagon with the hole formed by the curled end of the leaf spring, and inserted the square bolt.

A square bolt is a bolt bent into a ‘ㄷ’ shape, with screw threads on both ends.

It’s mainly used to fix square-shaped angle iron, but this time it was brought for a different purpose.

Since the dimensions were checked and prepared in advance, it fit perfectly into the hole.

After tightening the bolt with all his might, Channing looked at the Factory Manager. The Factory Manager had also perfectly tightened the front hole of the wagon with a square bolt.

“Factory Manager-nim. It feels like it’s floating, is this right?”

Channing asked the Factory Manager, curious after tightening all the bolts. Even though a washer was also attached and inserted onto the square bolt, because the width of the square bolt was wide, there was a gap between the wagon body and the leaf spring.

The Factory Manager looked at Channing with slightly surprised eyes.

“Uh… Why?”

“No. It’s just that’s the most useful question you’ve asked so far.”

Channing scratched his head and looked at the Factory Manager.

“Look at this leaf spring. It’s slightly bent, right?”

“Yes.”

Channing nodded. The leaf spring was slightly bent, and Channing knew that well.

The Factory Manager started to explain to Channing, who was looking at him with a subtle expression.

“This bend straightens out to absorb the shock. But what happens if you fix it perfectly, without any leeway?”

“It… won’t straighten out?”

“That’s right. Then it can’t absorb the shock. That’s why we intentionally give it play to move.”

Channing looked at the Factory Manager with an expression of realization and let out an exclamation, then looked again at the leaf spring he had fastened and the connection point.

“Wow… So that’s what it meant…”

“Good attitude. Keep searching for things you’re curious about and figuring them out, and you’ll improve too.”

At the Factory Manager’s praise, Channing felt embarrassed for no reason and scratched his head.

“Haahm… I dozed off. What are you doing, by the way?”

Tehez, who had been sleeping despite the loud drilling noise, suddenly shuddered, convulsed, and woke up, yawning.

The Factory Manager looked at Tehez, thinking she must have slept in an uncomfortable position.

Tehez, wiping her mouth with a slightly embarrassed face, got up from the chair and showed interest in the wagon lying on the ground.

“You took off the wagon wheels… and what is this?”

“Suspension.”

The Factory Manager explained it to Tehez again. After hearing the explanation, Tehez took out a notebook from her pocket and started taking notes.

The notebook had a cute bear drawn on it, and the pen was a common MoXmi ballpoint pen, something the Factory Manager had provided.

“So, you’re saying that metal also has some elasticity, and you’re using that elasticity. Then how do you make this elastic metal? Do you have to use iron ore from a specific region?”

“No. It’s about heat-treating the steel. If you heat high-carbon steel that contains a lot of carbon and then slowly cool it, the steel softens, and that’s how it’s made. Well, I don’t know much about it, so I explained it simply, but making usable spring steel is more complicated.”

“Ah… So when Mr. Popper was making a knife, the first time he quenched it in oil and the second time he just left it to cool was to soften the steel. Then the steel becomes elastic.”

“Something like that. If the steel doesn’t have enough elasticity, it will break. A good knife is all about finding that right balance.”

The Factory Manager explained as he and Channing attached leaf springs to other parts as well.

With four leaf springs attached in a quite impressive manner, the Factory Manager took out a cigarette and lit it.

“Alright. Now we need to attach the wheels. Channing! Bring the pipe we cut and let’s fix it!”

“Yes. Yes… Tehez. Help me out a bit.”

Channing, along with the Factory Manager and Tehez, prepared to fix the long pipe to the leaf spring.

“Now. Support the square metal plate underneath, Tehez. Channing, insert this square bolt into the pipe and into the hole of the square metal plate that Tehez is holding. I’ll tighten the nut.”

Following the Factory Manager’s instructions, Channing inserted the square bolt, and while Tehez was supporting the metal plate, the Factory Manager bent down and tightly fastened the nut onto the square bolt.

The long pipe was firmly fixed to the bottom of the leaf spring with a square bolt.

After confirming that it was firmly fixed by stepping on the bolt part with his foot, the Factory Manager moved to the other side, and Channing asked.

“Factory Manager-nim. If we do this, the axle won’t turn and will be fixed, right?”

The Factory Manager threw the square bolt to Channing and said.

“Don’t worry. There’s a way for everything.”

“Alright. You’ll explain it to me after we’re done, right?”

“You’ll know once it’s done, so just hurry up and fix it. You can do it with Tehez, right?”

Channing looked at Tehez and nodded, and Tehez also nodded.

“Good. Then fix it both front and back. I’ll bring the wheels.”

The Factory Manager headed to a corner of the factory, and Channing and Tehez fixed the pipe to the leaf spring as they had done before.

Meanwhile, the Factory Manager brought the wheels. They were quite large wheels with rubber tires, not wooden wheels.

Rolling them on the factory floor, the Factory Manager brought four wheels and stacked them neatly on one side.

Channing and Tehez showed interest in the wheels.

“Are those the wheels?”

“They have a peculiar shape.”

The Factory Manager nodded and opened his mouth.

“Yes. They’re for motorcycles, but I modified them a bit. First, Channing! Lift this and put it on the pipe!”

Channing lifted the wheel and inserted the pipe into the hole in the center.

Tehez held her notebook and pen, her eyes curious to see what other magic the Factory Manager would show.

After confirming that Channing had inserted it, the Factory Manager inserted a bolt into the protruding part of the wheel axle. It was a cylindrical part that fit perfectly into the pipe used as the axle.

There were holes in the part that extended out, allowing for a total of four bolts to be fastened, 90 degrees apart.

After fastening all four bolts, the Factory Manager held the wheel and spun it with his hand.

“Huh?!”

“Wow?!”

With a whirring sound, the wheel began to spin so smoothly that Channing was startled and bent down to get a closer look, and Tehez started examining the wheel here and there with surprised eyes.

“Ohhh! It spins so smoothly. I’ve never seen a wheel spin so well. By the way, what’s this black thing wrapped around the wheel? It’s not cloth, and it’s not leather… It doesn’t feel like leather either!”

Tehez started asking questions with a flushed face, and the Factory Manager stretched out his hand and stopped the wheel’s movement.

“Ask one question at a time. Channing, do you know why the wheel spins so well?”

“Uh… Huh?… There’s some kind of mechanism in the wheel, right? Looking at it, the part where you tightened the bolt earlier isn’t rotating, but only the wheel is rotating.”

The Factory Manager smiled at Channing’s sharp answer.

“You haven’t been learning for nothing. This wheel has built-in ball bearings.”

“Ah… Ball bearings.”

“Ball bearings? What are those?”

At the Factory Manager’s explanation, Channing pretended to know, and Tehez looked at the Factory Manager with sparkling eyes. Seeing Tehez like that, the Factory Manager lifted another wheel and began to explain.

“To explain it simply, there’s a small cylinder inside a large cylinder, and inside that, there are round steel balls. When the inner cylinder is fixed and the outer cylinder rotates, the steel balls rotate together, creating a smooth rotation. Like this.”

The Factory Manager spun the hanging wheel again, and with a whirring sound, the wheel started to rotate.

“Wow… It’s amazing that steel balls can create such a smooth rotation. By the way, how can you make such round steel balls? If they were even slightly uneven, they wouldn’t move so smoothly.”

“Well… I’ve never made steel balls before.”

The Factory Manager replied and handed the wheel to Channing.

“Well, think about that on your own. Channing! Put the wheel on. Tehez! You too, change your clothes and come down.”

“Ah. Alright, Master-nim.”

At the Factory Manager’s words, Tehez took off her gloves and went upstairs, and Channing put the wheel on the axle and tightened the bolts.