The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 101 I am a professional talent, and I rely on Taobao customer service to guide my work? ! (Subscribe)
Shen Le closed his eyes slightly, recalling the young man who made toys for his sister under the lamp in his memory, but his thoughts still couldn't make sense. No, when in doubt, ask the computer!
He simply put down his toys, rushed to the computer, and did a search. This search really opened his eyes:

It turns out that although BJD dolls were mass-produced at the end of the 20th century, their origins can be traced back to earlier Europe.

In the 20s, German surrealist artist Hans Bellmer began to create life-size dolls.

In 1934, Bellmer published a book, Die puppe, which included 10 black-and-white photographs of the puppets.

The dolls are all equipped with "ball joints" so they can be twisted into various poses at will.

Of course, because of surrealism and the accusation of something, the puppets of this artist are somewhat inconsistent with the daily aesthetics...

In any case, this big guy's work at least proves that it was technically not difficult to make ball-jointed dolls in the 20s, and that the technology could also be spread.

If dollhouse makers read this book or hear someone mention it, is it possible to make ball joints?

After all, spherical connections or hemispherical connections also exist in mechanical devices!
Well, no matter what, being able to make this kind of joint in China in the 40s showed very good technology.

Not only does he need to have strong technical skills, but he also needs to have a wide range of reading and, I guess, pretty good English as well.

Moreover, the education level of the school he attends must be very strong and his horizons must be broad, so that he can read such a book...

What happened to the elder brother, the elder brother who doted on his sister? With such skills, he would have been at least an eighth-level worker, and perhaps a senior engineer.

After coming to an understanding, Shen Le calmed down and picked up the doll to continue studying it. Well, the main reason for the limbs to fall off was that the rubber band inside had aged, loosened, and broken after a long time.

In the past, the doll had special powers to support it. It could stand up when it wanted to, dance when it wanted to, and be cut into pieces when it wanted to.

Now that he was holding it in his hand for study, the doll was unhappy and didn't want to serve him anymore. Once the power was withdrawn, the limbs that were already unable to hold on instantly returned to their original state.

"……Fine……"

Shen Le sighed deeply. BJD dolls are BJD dolls. At least, they are the mainstream dolls now. There are many reference materials, so it is easy to check!
Open various websites and you will find a lot of video tutorials on how to disassemble and assemble BJD dolls and how to tie rubber bands.

He patiently took off the doll's clothes and disassembled its body parts one by one. After one round of disassembly, there were more than twenty joints scattered on the table:

Head, neck, hands, feet, torso, every important joint, every detail. Shen Le picked them up and checked them one by one, and found that they were generally fine:

The wood used for this doll is probably beech, with light and even wood grain and soft and smooth tones. It is only painted with a thin layer of tung oil, which well preserves the original texture of the wood.

The pale yellow wood parts reflected a lustrous luster under the light. Seventy or eighty years had passed, and the tung oil had slowly oxidized, turning the color dark and mellow, as if a period of time had condensed on it.

This doll has probably always been cherished and preserved by its owner, who occasionally plays with it. The patina on the parts is intact, and there are almost no signs of bumps or falls.

On the larger parts, you can see fine cracks that are almost invisible if you don't pay attention. There are only a few places that obviously need repair:
First, all the aging and broken rubber bands inside the doll need to be removed and replaced;

Second, the thin iron wire used as support is also seriously corroded. It needs to be removed first to determine its corrosion status and whether it can continue to play a supporting role before proceeding to the next step;
Third, inside the doll, where the rubber band and wire come into contact, you can see obvious signs of contamination. All these signs should be cleaned and then coated with protective paint.

“The workload is not that heavy…”

Shen Le sighed, turned the doll's chest upside down, and patted it again. Some yellow and black crumbs fell out of the chest, and after grinding them, they were a little sticky.

He turned the chest part over and saw more yellow and black things stuck in the cavity. It looked very familiar:

"Isn't this just an ordinary rubber band?"

It is a memory of his childhood, something he still uses now, something that elementary school girls pulled out in long pieces and used for skipping rubber bands.

Rubber bands are very useful when they are new, but over time they will turn yellow, black, become soft, and stick together. No matter where you put them, they will stick to you and you can't pull them apart.

Moreover, even if you get the big crumbs out, there will still be a lot of sticky crumbs stuck in every corner, which can't be removed at all... Boss, why do you use this kind of rubber band?
Isn't there something better?
Never mind. In the 1940s, supplies were scarce. Maybe there was really nothing better for that big guy...

At least, the rubber bands wrapped in cloth, used as elastic waistbands, or the thicker and prettier ones used to tie hair, are too thick to pass through the holes in the puppet's limbs?

"Come on, take your time cleaning it up! I wonder what information this special little puppet can bring me after it's been repaired?"

The little doll didn't say a word or move, and it lay in pieces on the table, looking like a normal doll. It didn't look like it would jump off the table or run away on its own.

Even so, Shen Le still carefully took a box and put all the parts of the Pinocchio into it.

The rubber band is broken, and the thin iron wire is seriously rusted, but it can still run, which means it relies on evil spirit (?) as its supporting power. If it relies on evil spirit, then it is possible, and it can jump up and walk even if it is disassembled!
If I don't assemble you, I'll have to go under the door sill, in the cracks between bricks, or maybe even in the sewer to pick up your parts everywhere!
After assembling the parts, Shen Le was finally able to make a work schedule and start working leisurely. He couldn't fix the clothes on the doll. He was really not good at fabric repair.

He was quite experienced in repairing puppet parts. However, Shen Le did not rush to repair them. Instead, he turned on his computer and started searching frantically:
What should I use as a replacement for this rubber band?
Is there any ready-made product online?
How do you thread the rubber band through the parts to connect the entire doll?
Are there any existing tools?

What is that wire for? How do I get it in there?
Fortunately, BJD dolls are considered popular toys nowadays, and there are a lot of videos about them on the Internet.

Shen Le casually visited Bilibili and found a screen full of videos teaching you how to put rubber bands on BJD dolls:
I visited Taobao again and found a screen full of BJD doll rubber bands, aluminum wires, and stretching tool sets.

Just click on any one and you will find three-quarter dolls (60 cm high), four-quarter dolls (45 cm), six-quarter dolls (30 cm), twelve-quarter dolls (about 15 cm), and everything else you need, a complete set!
There are also teaching videos and explanations on Taobao. If you really can’t learn it, you can also take a video and ask customer service.

Shen Le clicked on several stores and saw comments such as "the store owner is enthusiastic", "the store owner provides careful guidance", and "the store owner provides very patient guidance"...

Alas, as a graduate student majoring in cultural relics restoration, when did I end up relying on the instructions of Taobao customer service to do my work?

Forget it, learning never ends. Learning from a mentor, a master, or Taobao customer service is all learning. Shen Le comforted himself, calmly placed an order, and started cleaning up the dolls:
First use a soft-bristled brush to clean the external dust. Be sure to use a soft-bristled brush to avoid damaging the surface of the doll.
Next, reach in with tweezers and carefully remove the dirt inside the part.

If tweezers can't pick it out, use a vacuum cleaner to suck it out as much as possible.

If you really can't suck it out, use an ear pick, or the ear pick can't do it, dip a cotton swab in a little ethyl acetate, poke it in and slowly wipe it...

The movements must be delicate and light, and every effort should be made to avoid even the slightest damage.

If a carpenter were to repair this kind of wooden furniture, and it took more than a day to finish the work by simply scrubbing it, cleaning it, adding glue, grinding it, and polishing it, it would be considered as slacking off.

However, it took Shen Le a full day and a half to clean every part of the doll.

"Huh... Fortunately, I'm financially independent now. Otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to handle this job and would definitely starve to death..."

Shen Le straightened up from his workbench, performed a set of Five Animal Exercises to loosen up his stiff body, and sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Restoring a doll that is basically intact, but a little cracked and stained, and completing the cleaning is only the first step. One and a half days, where have we reached?

The first step in restoring unearthed lacquerware is to dehydrate it. The method is to soak the lacquerware full of water in a 40% glyoxal aqueous solution for up to two years!
Apart from the public research institutes that can afford such work, private enterprises will have to consider such a long time, the long return on investment, and possibly a long interest payment period...

Every one of them will probably collapse...

"So, little doll, you have to repay me." Shen Le held the little doll in his hand, while checking the results of his work, he muttered:
"Even if you can't help me with work like Xiao Ling and Zheng Mo, or beat up the invaders like Xiao You Deng, at least sing a song or dance for me or something?"

"Just don't pretend to be dead every day. Performing fancy tricks every day is also very scary..."

"Ah, what kind of experience has led you to have this style of pretending to be dead...

Didn't your brother say he liked you very much? This little doll was made in your image? Now that it's fixed, can you show me some of your memories? "

The little doll, or the parts of the little doll, did not say a word or move, pretending to be a dead object, and simply did not give Shen Le any feedback.

Shen Le sighed, stood up, and walked around again to look at the recent achievements. There was a woodworking clamp on the body of the doll cabinet. Looking at the time on the clamp, it was not yet 72 hours, so it could not be loosened;

The lacquer on the doll cabinet was quietly soaking in the solution, as if it had stretched a little, but also as if it had not stretched at all;

Looking at the label on the outside of the solution tank, it means we have to wait nine days before we can see the effects, so there is still more than half the time left!

Every day feels like a year!

Every day feels like a year!

Fortunately, he was no longer short of money, fortunately he did not wait until these two small pieces were completed to receive payment, fortunately he still had other work on hand...

Otherwise, I can’t wait any longer!

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(End of this chapter)