The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 41 Repairing the old version of the Ghost Ball is almost finished!

Shen Le watched the old lady wiping the tools slowly, taking a break after wiping twice, and felt a little nervous:
Will this tool fall from her hand and hurt the old man?
As he was wiping, there was a bang outside, and suddenly a child of about seven or eight years old ran in. He stood next to the old man, tiptoed and said:
"Grandma! Grandma! Are you cleaning your tools again? Grandma, can you teach me how to carve a little monkey?"

"You haven't finished carving the little rabbit from last time." The old man picked out a carving knife from the tool box and handed it to the child:

"Come, carve it for grandma to see. The little rabbit is already carved. No problem. Grandma will teach you how to carve a little monkey..."

The grandparents and grandchildren snuggled together, one taught and the other learned, and they were very happy.

After chipping for a while, the child took the ink fountain from the old man, held the lead weight in front of his eyes, and fiddled with the magic ball on the lead weight:
"Grandma, is this three-layer wooden ball made by Grandpa?"

"Yes...your grandfather made this wooden ball to propose to me..."

"Grandpa is so awesome! - Grandma, I want to be as awesome as Grandpa in the future. I want to make a wooden ball like this!"

The light flickered. Shen Le opened his eyes with a smile and stroked the inkstone at hand.

Is this your memory?
Were you created just to prove the suitor's skill level so that this marriage can be concluded?

You watched them get to know each other, fall in love, propose, and become engaged;
You watched them rely on each other and walk through the long road of life, from the glorious days of the factory to the factory closing down and workers being laid off, and then rising up to fight against fate;

You have witnessed their love, their lives, and the inheritance of their skills and passions...

With the same passion and the same interests, if we could stay together until old age, what a happy life that would be!

Think about the couple who sold him the toolbox. Judging from their age and the inheritance of the inkstone, they are probably the son and daughter-in-law of the old couple.

They quarrel like this every day and even to the point of divorce, it's no wonder Mo Dou is so angry.

Shen Le put himself in Modou's shoes. If he were Modou, he would probably swing the ink line and beat those two unfilial descendants...

He calmed down and continued to work. Shen Le couldn't help but be surprised:
“I feel like… my skills have improved!”

Several memories were instilled in me one after another. Among them, was the work experience of the owner of the ink fountain mixed in?
When I picked up the carving knife again, I felt that every movement of the carving knife was much smoother and more accurate!

The previous situation where I would cut something off-center after two cuts, and then break something after two more cuts, and there would be no more bumps and stumbles.

Very good!

Work harder, victory is just around the corner!
He worked patiently, using a wood chisel, carving knife, and needle knife.

Not long after, the jujube wood ghost ball in his hand became more round, and the innermost bead began to roll around, becoming more round and sensitive.

At this point, Shen Le put aside his carving skills and started tinkering with the original ghost ball.

The original version is a testimony to the passionate love of a young man and the unswerving love of an old couple who have gone through decades of ups and downs.

It is better to repair it if it can be restored to its original state.

First, the three old things: wood glue, wood powder, and quick-drying wood glue. Pour them in quickly until the entire ghost ball is filled;
Then, wait for the wood glue to dry, and firmly adhere the wood powder inside the ghost ball to fill it out into a solid round ball, leaving only the outermost layer that is missing. Finally, take out the silicone powder, mix the glue, and prepare to re-mold!
For a job like carving, it is certainly not difficult to carve according to the original shape, but it is obviously more accurate to turn over the film!
Shen Le followed his teacher to restore ancient buildings. He could climb up on roofs and enter underground palaces. He could do rough work such as supporting beams and replacing columns, as well as fine work such as carving eyebrows, eyes and hair of wood sculptures.

Naturally, making a mold was also within his skill set, and he had done it himself more than once.

He found the leftover food-grade silica gel powder and mixed it with water in a 1:1 ratio.

Use kraft paper to stick a paper tube with a diameter of 2 cm, fill it with clay, and stuff the lower half of the ghost ball into it.

I applied a layer of vaseline on the upper part, then brushed several layers of silicone solution on it and poured it directly in.

Put it in the refrigerator, let it sit for 30 minutes, and then flip it into a mold!
"Pretty!"

With the Vaseline as a barrier, the silicone and the ghost ball were separated smoothly. Looking down at the inside of the silicone, the dragon, dragon whiskers and dragon scales carved on the ghost ball were clearly visible.

Shen Le gave himself a thumbs up. Then, he picked up a wooden bead and carefully carved it in the same way as the ghost ball:
First, use a pencil to make a rough draft, drawing even-sized, overlapping fan-shaped dragon scales one by one;

Then he replaced the handheld electric drill with the smallest needle knife and carved along the strokes of the drawing, line by line, into the shape of dragon scales;
The next step is fine processing. Whether the dragon scales are vivid or not depends on this step. Shen Le held his breath, slightly turned the needle knife sideways, aimed at the overlapping part of the dragon scales, and carefully carved down a little bit -

"oops!"

The wooden bead was so small that the needle knife accidentally slipped out of the bead and onto the woodworking clamp next to it, making a series of "ding! zi—" sounds.

Fortunately, Shen Le had his mouth open and was holding the carpentry clamp from a distance, so he was not hit, but he was still scared and broke into a cold sweat.

"How about using woodworking powder to make the mold?"

He murmured softly and shook his head. Just for the love between the old couple who had owned the inkstone before, he wanted to restore it as perfectly as possible, leaving as few regrets as possible.

If you can carve it out on a whole piece of wood and glue it on, you don’t need wood powder!
Shen Le took a deep breath and tried again. After failing seven or eight times, he finally carved a dragon pattern. Then he covered it with a silicone mold and carefully measured:
"The dragon scale on the left is still a little high, it needs to be repaired..."

A tall carpenter is a short blacksmith, and a stonemason is someone who is neither too tall nor too short. A carpenter is not afraid of carving something that is too long or too many. If there is excess, he can just cut it down.

He went back and forth, gestured seven or eight times, and revised it seven or eight times. Finally, the two sides fit perfectly, without any gaps, without any bumps.

Next, cut off and hollow out the other side of the wooden ball, and dig out a layer of wooden shell with sculpture according to the thickness of the first layer of the ghost ball. Measure several times, cut out the shape that is exactly the same as the original defective part, put it up, and it will fit perfectly!

"Good job!"

Shen Le gave himself a thumbs up.

The embedded part and the original part of the ghost ball, the undulations of the dragon's body, the overlapping of the dragon scales, and the inward circular hole, every detail has smooth lines, and it is impossible to tell that any of them was added later.

Now, we just need to clean up the wood powder stuffed into the old ghost ball, carve out the pattern on the second layer, and the whole ball will be repaired...

You can then wait patiently for the inkstone to come alive, and then wait for the copper piece to give him a large amount of feedback!
　I ask everyone to save up a little bit of the guaranteed monthly tickets. Let’s vote together on Monday, May 5th, and make a push for the new book list!

　　Cat thanks everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)