The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 131 Shen Le: Nothing to do today, but no music in the brothel
An inexplicable realization came to his mind. Shen Le smiled, stroked the lacquer that had been knocked off the comb, and the missing part of the mother-of-pearl, and silently asked him in his heart:
"Do you need to be repaired so that you can have enough strength to show me the way and help me find your partner?"

"Then I will try my best to fix you! I hope you can give me a surprise after I fix you!"

The wooden comb remained silent. However, there was a warm current that slowly seeped up from Shen Le's fingertips, making his heart warm.

Did the little wooden comb agree to this?

Is this the right way?
Just do it.

Shen Le held the comb and immersed himself in it again. Unfortunately, he did not see the process of making the comb, nor did he see the lacquer being applied over and over again. What kind of lacquer was used?

However, he probably already had an idea in his mind. This wooden comb only had a layer of fine linen pasted on the wooden frame, and after the primer, the next step was black lacquer.

Now that the wooden frame is not exposed, all we need to do is fill it with paint.

He quickly ordered a lot of materials. He had lacquer and pigments, but he had to buy all the other odds and ends:

Linen cloth for primer, tile ash for primer, fine sandpaper for polishing the paint surface, polishing paste. There are so many things to buy!

Then, great, what shells to buy?
There is no shortage of all kinds of goods on Taobao. There are more than ten kinds of mother-of-pearl pieces alone, which are dazzling.

Luminous clams, white butterfly clams, black butterfly clams, Japanese green clams, white scallops, Bohai Bay colored clams, freshwater white clams, pearl clams, abalone clams, oily clams, and so on.

The origin of abalone shells is divided into domestic, New Zealand abalone shells, Mexican abalone shells, and shells whose origin is not specified, who knows where they are imported...

Shen Le held the comb in one hand and the mouse in the other. He put the wooden comb next to the computer screen and looked left and right.

Normally, I just think that this screen, which costs just over a thousand yuan, is 27 inches, has a resolution of 2560*1440, and is said to restore the original color. What you see is what you get, and the color is already quite good.

Writing papers, looking at pictures, playing games, all went smoothly, especially playing games, the colors on the screen were very realistic. But now, he couldn't stand it no matter how he looked at it:
Please tell me, what kind of shell is this comb made of?
They all look similar on the computer, but they are all a little different!
The color of the product photos on Taobao and the color of the mother-of-pearl on the back of the comb in his hand do not match at all!

Shen Le sighed helplessly. According to the data, the shellfish used to make mother-of-pearl furniture in ancient China included seashells, abalone shells, snail shells, luminous snails, triangular clams, giant clam shells, etc.

Thanks, the range is too wide and I can't lock it at all.

Shen Le silently checked the information for a long time and flipped through a lot of papers, from "The Record of Lacquer Painting" written by Huang Cheng in the Ming Dynasty, to "Explanation of the Record of Lacquer Painting" compiled by Wang Shixiang, to various modern works and papers.

Unfortunately, despite exhausting his research capabilities, he was unable to find any papers analyzing mother-of-pearl or identifying which type of shell it belonged to.

The closest one is to use wide-area X-ray fluorescence scanning imaging technology (MA-XRF) for non-destructive analysis of relevant materials.

The scan results show that a large amount of calcium is found in the inlaid parts. This is because shellfish such as snail shells and seashells are rich in calcium...

what?
What kind of shells are used for these mother-of-pearls?
Sorry, no one has done this type of experiment, cutting the mother-of-pearl, analyzing its composition, and comparing it with currently known shell types to figure out what kind of shell it is...

Shen Le even asked the senior sister who was admitted to the Palace Museum what kind of shells to choose when doing mother-of-pearl restoration.

As a result, the answer from the senior sister made him want to cry but had no tears:
"We just used existing materials and compared them directly..."

Shen Le had no choice but to use a stupid method. He placed a bunch of orders and ordered a small portion of all kinds of mother-of-pearl pieces, except for abalone, of course.

The rich blue and green colors of the abalone shells are very different from the shells on the comb in Shen Le's hand.

It is obvious at a glance that it is definitely not. Even if it is not imported goods such as New Zealand abalone or Mexican abalone, the probability of it being a domestic product is very low.

Shen Le currently estimates that the mother-of-pearl used on it is probably one of the white scallops, white butterfly shells, luminous shells, and Japanese green shells. However, which one it is, we have to compare it with the shells we have obtained.

Then, I searched online and ordered a constant temperature and humidity test chamber:
After a layer of lacquer is applied to wood, it needs to be sent to a shade room to dry. The shade room has certain requirements for temperature and humidity.

Shen Le didn't want to build a separate shade room in his studio for the time being, and get things like sealing, constant temperature and humidity equipment, control systems, etc., so he just bought a ready-made one.

The wooden combs on the left and right are relatively small, and all the parts in the dressing table are small, even the dressing table box should not be big, so if they are stuffed into the test box, they will definitely be able to be fixed.

Then, he began to try his hand. He walked around the town and casually bought a few boxes that were said to be mother-of-pearl. He used a chisel to chisel off a piece...

“This is fake!”

Shen Le screamed. This thing, which is said to be made of lacquer and mother-of-pearl, is actually not made of lacquer at all!

The mother-of-pearl is not mother-of-pearl, it is completely a piece of plastic, no wonder it sold me more than 20 yuan each...

It can't be used for training at all!

Shen Le chiseled one, threw one, chiseled one, threw one. When he chiseled the fifth one, he finally breathed a sigh of relief:
The most expensive box is actually made of real lacquer mother-of-pearl...

He carefully controlled the force, chiseled a hole in the lacquer, and chiseled off a piece of mother-of-pearl, making sure the chiseling depth reached the primer layer but did not expose the wood base.

I put some masking tape around the edges, picked the thinnest pen, and started painting.

Layer by layer, then another layer, put it in a plastic storage box, put a cup of water in it, let it evaporate naturally, and maintain the humidity. As for whether the humidity is accurate, it is up to fate. Lacquer dries in the shade, depending on the temperature and humidity, it takes about 24 hours: the higher the temperature, the faster it dries; the higher the humidity, the slower it dries.

Shen Le set a timer and checked it 24 hours later. He found that the paint was just about to dry. Very good, he painted it again and continued to dry it in the shade!

After repeating this three times, the newly applied lacquer finally gradually approached the surrounding paint layer. Shen Le peeled off the masking tape, observed it carefully, and screamed:
“It’s not okay to touch up the paint like this!!!”

The color of the newly applied lacquer is obviously different from the original paint layer around it. You can see the difference with your naked eyes without even using a magnifying glass...

"So this is why, before repairing lacquered furniture, all the surface paint layers must be removed..."

If you don't grind it off, there's no way to keep the color consistent!

Not only is the color inconsistent, the entire paint surface is even uneven... There are cracks visible between the newly applied paint and the paint next to it!

"Have I overestimated my skills..."

Shen Le sighed deeply. He put down the paint box in his hand and quickly ordered a few training tools:

A mother-of-pearl inlaid folio jewelry box produced by the Yangzhou Lacquerware Factory;
Mother-of-pearl wooden combs made by Carpenter Tan;

And a shop called "Intangible Cultural Heritage Mother-of-Pearl Lacquerware", which produces several Pingyao mother-of-pearl lacquerware.

The restoration result of this wooden comb is related to whether he can find the other components of the dressing table. He will not start until he has practiced perfectly and is fully confident!

While waiting for the courier to arrive, Lao You finally contacted him again. Shen Le was annoyed by the lacquer, so he decided to go out and see him to change his mood.

Of course, before leaving the house, I still have to take a look at the doll cabinet and ask:
"Has any case happened in town today? Is there anything strange happening?"

[Nothing to do today]

The young man and woman dolls, the middle-aged couple dolls, the little girl doll, and the old lady doll fell in all directions and all made a particularly comfortable lying posture.

"Are there any monsters nearby? Are they doing anything bad?"

Several dolls jumped out of the cabinet and landed on the map. Two sat in Tianxiang Building, two sat in the pet hospital, and one sat quietly in the mansion.

Well, Tianxianglou has the proprietress and her waiters, the pet hospital has Dr. Qin and his little nurse, and the mansion has a big camphor tree. In other places, there are no dancing dolls, that is, no other monsters.

Not talking and not moving means that you have not committed any crime or done anything bad.

Shen Le laughed:

That's great, that's great. With the diligent warnings from the Doll Cabinet and the cooperation of the new Maoshan disciples with the police, today is another uneventful day...

Well, he didn’t go to a brothel to listen to music anyway. At most, he would go to the proprietress’s house to have a meal.

Shen Le walked into Tianxiang Tower leisurely. It was past dinner time and the restaurant was quiet and empty except for Lao You, who was standing up and sitting down from time to time, as if there were nails on his butt.

Shen Le smiled and waved his hand to greet him:

"How is it? Have you chosen the type of spirit gathering array?"

"I want this shape." Lao You divided the jade into two piles on the table. One pile was arranged in the inner circle to form the Four Symbols, and the other pile was arranged in the outer circle to form the Big Dipper, with the North Star far outside the circle:

"This shape is convenient for drawing in the power of the stars and the moon and tempering my body. It is most suitable for me. As for how to combine it with the meditation array..."

He put on a flattering smile and bent his waist again:
"I'll leave everything to you!"

Shen Le frowned slightly and moved the jade back and forth on the table.

The piece of dragon blood sandalwood provided by the lady boss was not very big. Shen Le estimated that it was not big enough to make a single bed. At most, he could make a 1.5-meter-long Luohan couch.

It was not difficult to arrange the four symbols and the Big Dipper on it. The problem was that after the Big Dipper was arranged, the circle formed by the four symbols was only about one foot in diameter.

Can you fit it in?
He looked Lao You up and down. In order to expand the circle and make the Luohan bed bigger, the prerequisite was to thin the wood of the Luohan bed.

The problem is that the plan Xiao Modou had given before, in order to enhance the function of calming the mind, requires carving more and more complex patterns and using more complex techniques.

Openwork and openwork carvings may even require two or three layers of carving. The wood is not thick enough to support such carvings.

Otherwise, why not replace some less important parts, such as the four legs, with other woods?
However, every part of this Luohan bed, whether it is the screen or the bed surface, the waist or the bed legs, must be carefully carved to achieve the greatest calming effect.

It cannot be made of the same piece of wood, or even made of different types of wood. Its efficacy will probably be reduced by 20%, or even 20%...

(End of this chapter)