Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 568 If You Dare to Cover It Up, I Dare to Do It

This won't work, and that won't work either!

He was just the person in charge, not someone who worked on the production line or drew blueprints. He had thought of every possible solution, but now they had all been rejected.

If all these paths are blocked, then he really has no other choice.

Zhang Nan looked at Chen Luyang for a long time, then took a deep breath.

“I have a plan… but it’s very risky.”

Chen Luyang frowned: "Go on."

"I want to change some of the one-piece parts into modular parts."

As Zhang Nan spoke, she unfolded the sketch in her hand.

"Use short materials to assemble a sleeve-type structure, widen the mating surface in some areas, and add a limiting ring and threaded buffer."

"First, assemble these irregular scraps into usable 'raw pieces' and make a batch of sample pieces to use."

"Although the risks are high, as long as we rearrange the process and control the precision, we can ensure that the basic functions meet the standards and at least deliver a batch of finished products."

He paused, his expression grave:
"But in that case, the seams will become a potential hazard."

"If any technical school makes even a slight error in processing, it can easily lead to problems such as loosening, oil leakage, or even breakage of parts."

As she spoke, she nervously observed Chen Luyang's expression.

He pondered this idea for several days and repeatedly calculated it on the drawings, but he never dared to bring it out.

After all, once a design is deemed to have been altered in violation of regulations, it's not just a matter of a failed experiment; it will be classified and those responsible will be held accountable!
He only brought it up today because he was truly desperate and had no other options.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Nan's words, Chen Luyang froze completely.

The plan is a way out, but it's clearly a path hanging on a tightrope.

One wrong step and you're plunged into an abyss.

Chen Luyang remained silent for a long time.

He braced his hands on the table, his knuckles turning white little by little.

"The steel from the Municipal Economic Commission should arrive in about half a month at the latest."

Chen Luyang finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse: "Let's just get through this period first."

Zhang Nan suddenly looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"You mean... do it my way?"

"Dry."

Chen Luyang gritted her teeth and said, word by word.

"Use the splicing solution to maintain production for now."

"Once the steel supplies arrive, we'll replace the manufactured parts in batches. The factory will then complete the registration, and all assemblies will be replaced with new parts free of charge."

Zhang Nan was taken aback: "The factory would lose a lot of money that way."

"So what if we lose money?"

Chen Luyang's eyes darkened, and that familiar ruthlessness resurfaced.

"The repair shop was able to survive in the town because it could repair, replace, and supply parts."

"As long as the warehouse isn't empty, the repair shop can operate. People can work, and the shop can survive."

These words ignited Zhang Nan like a spark.

His spirits, which had been low for several days, finally rekindled, and his eyes shone with a long-lost light.

"Okay!" he said quickly and firmly.

"I'll go back and draw the revised drawing right away."

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Chen Luyang called out to him.

"Don't rush off, it's getting dark now. If you need to revise the image, do it tomorrow."

Zhang Nan then realized that it was already completely dark.

The moonlight outside the window reflected the dim yellow light, and in the distance, the dull thuds of basketballs hitting the ground echoed from the playground, stretching out into the vast night.

Only then did he realize he was hungry.

After running between the vocational school and the regular school that day, Zhang Nan didn't eat anything all day except for a quick bite in the morning.

My stomach feels terribly empty right now.

"To the cafeteria?" he asked hesitantly.

"The cafeteria closed long ago," Chen Luyang stood up and stretched her stiff shoulders.

"Let's go out and get some dumplings."

The dumpling restaurant is located at the entrance of the alley outside the school gate.

Chen Luyang and Zhang Nan found a small table in the corner and ordered two plates of pork and celery and two bowls of hot dumpling soup.

Soon, the hot dumplings were served. The two of them were starving, so they picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

"Senior brother." Chen Luyang popped a dumpling into his mouth.
"I studied literature and know a little about production and drawing, but when it comes to actually doing it, I'm far from good enough."

"I have to entrust you with all the specific production details of the repair shop, including blueprints, processes, and precision. I need to handle everything on-site."

“I can figure out other things, like materials, coordination, and external relations, but when it comes to workshop production, no one can do it for you.”

Zhang Nan paused, her hand holding the chopsticks still, and muttered, "I know."

Chen Luyang took a sip of the dumpling soup and said as she ate:

"Like I said before, I will absolutely support you. If you make a mistake, I'll take responsibility. Just keep doing it."

Zhang Nan remained silent for a while before slowly swallowing the dumpling in her mouth.

"If you dare to cover it up, I dare to do it."

He's a junior in college, and now he not only has to attend classes and write papers, but also...

They also had to keep an eye on the blueprints, run around the workshops, and shuttle between six technical schools, bearing the responsibility for the entire trial production line.

Let alone a student, even a veteran engineer in the factory might not be able to handle this situation.

Without Chen Luyang, no one would have given him this opportunity.

Since Chen Luyang trusts him, entrusts him with her affairs, and dares to hand over the entire line to him.

Zhang Nan had no other reason than to be trusted, so he had to go all out.

After hearing this, Chen Luyang grinned.

"Okay! I feel relieved to hear that."

Zhang Nan picked up the bowl and gulped down the rest of the dumpling soup in one go.

"I'll go through my thoughts tonight, and go back to revise the drawings first thing tomorrow morning to try and finalize the new process."

……

Zhang Nan quickly completed the revised drawing.

When the new blueprints were sent to the workshop, the students at the technical school were all dumbfounded.

This batch of materials was already enough of a headache for them, with chipping and inclusions constantly causing them to become restless and irritable.

But now, another "splitting solution" has emerged.

Isn't this just making things more chaotic?!
But they couldn't say anything.

They're drafters, technicians sent by the repair shop; they can only do what's written on the blueprints.

"Let's do it, but who knows how well it will turn out?"

A vocational school student said irritably.

……

Although, according to the new blueprints, the production process for the components can indeed be started.

Just as Zhang Nan had predicted, the trouble was fully exposed during the final assembly stage.

"This is impossible!"

A vocational school student, his arm covered in splattered cutting fluid, swung a wrench and held up a rough workpiece for his teacher to see.

"One end is just right, but the other end is off by a millimeter! Either this side is tight, but the seam on the other side is loose!"

"It's so hard to even put it together, let alone load it onto the truck, it won't even stay in place!"

An atmosphere of anxiety permeated the workshop.

According to Zhang Nan's revised method, short materials must be assembled into a sleeve-like structure, with the outer circle, inner hole, thread, and limiting ring connected layer by layer, and only when they are aligned accurately will it count.

However, the short materials and sleeves sent by each school were not from the same furnace opening. They varied in thickness and dimensions.

Although the previous processes were done by "looking at the blueprints," they were still capable of performing them.
But in the end, all of this "retaliatory" action culminated in this step:
It's either that it doesn't fit, or it's leaking oil.

If you tighten it slightly, the limit ring will slip; if you loosen it a little, it will become loose and wobble.

The biggest problem is that if this batch of parts can't be assembled, the repair shop will hold them responsible, and they'll have to take all the blame.

The teacher in charge of the team was so worried that he kept rubbing his temples.

Although he knew this job was difficult, he couldn't openly stop work. If he stopped, no one would be able to explain themselves when the higher-ups asked.

He could only reassure the students, telling them to persevere and follow the instructions on the drawings to at least produce a sample. If all else failed, they could report back.

"I feel we can't just follow the blueprints directly anymore."

A voice suddenly interrupted.

Everyone was stunned and turned around to look!
There was a short boy in overalls, with his sleeves rolled up, holding a pair of substandard spliced ​​parts. He was turning them around and comparing the angles, his eyes shining as if he were doing math problems.

"Song Ye, if we don't follow the blueprints, then what should we follow?" a student asked.

“Others assemble according to the blueprints because the dimensions in the blueprints are all standard.” Song Ye squinted and tilted his head. “But our materials are not even on the same size line. If we really want to assemble them, we have to make them ‘get to know each other’ first.”

"You know each other?"

No one could understand what he was saying. They only saw him examine the two pieces of material closely under the light, measure them with calipers, and mutter something under his breath.

Next, he picked out a few thin copper sheets and cut two strips of galvanized iron.

He gently tapped it straight with a hammer, rolled it around the short piece of material to form an extremely thin "compensation ring," and then tightened it little by little with small pliers.

"What are you trying to do?" someone asked curiously.

Song Ye, with a pencil in his mouth and without looking up, said, "The ends of these sleeves are not even. If we put them together, they will either loosen or leak oil. The copper sheet is soft, so it can find its own position."

His hands never stopped; he cut the copper sheet, rolled it, and smoothed the edges, all in one smooth motion.

"With these two limiting teeth, when you screw it in, you first 'bite halfway' and then squeeze, and the seam will level itself."

"Are you just messing around with this?" someone couldn't help but question.

"You'll find out soon enough whether it's just messing around or not." Song Ye put the two parts together, placed them on the lathe, and slowly pushed them forward.

"Bam—"

The machine vibrated, then stabilized.

The cutting tool moved gently, and the metal made a smooth "hissing" sound. The crack line was almost invisible at the seam.

Then, he took out a second pair, changed the angle, slightly modified the feed speed, and tried it again.

"See? This is called 'soft excess'."

Song Ye pointed to the pieced-together section and curled his lips into a smile.

"Originally, these two sections of material were hard against each other and would loosen with a vibration. Now, with the addition of copper rings, the outer ring is slightly softer and the inner ring is slightly tighter. When screwed in, the two sides 'give each other a breath,' and when the machine presses down, it levels itself."

As he explained, he used calipers to compare the measurements again.

"That's good." Song Ye clapped his hands with relief.

"real or fake?"

Several students stepped forward with some skepticism and waved their hands at the object.

It wobbled, then remained still.

It shook again, but still didn't move.

"It's done!?"

"It really hasn't shaken anymore!"

"This method is too bizarre!"

The teacher in charge was both surprised and delighted: "Where did you learn this technique?"

Song Ye, his eyes gleaming, said, "It seems so."

“A couple of days ago, the old workshop was repairing the drive shaft, and I was watching him put in a bushing, which reminded me of this incident.”

As he spoke, he placed the calipers on the table.
“His is for image stabilization, mine is for preventing loosening, it’s the same principle.”

The teacher in charge picked up the assembled sample, looked at it from side to side for a long time, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He bent down again, put on gloves, and personally tried assembling several pairs of samples.

Sure enough, the grip was tight and the positioning was precise; it wouldn't loosen no matter how much I shook it.

After finishing the entire process, not even a trace of oil seeped out from the threads.

"You're really smart, kid!"

The teacher in charge of the group laughed out loud and patted Song Ye on the shoulder.

"Come on, let's make a batch of test pieces using Song Ye's method."

"okay!"

The students' previous listlessness vanished instantly.

Soon, several machine tools started up in turn, the cutting blades making a slight hissing sound as they swept out a bright silver metallic sheen in circles.

When a new batch of parts was delivered back to the repair shop, the entire shop was on high alert, and a tense and focused atmosphere filled the air.

As Zhang Nan had warned everyone beforehand, these parts were prototypes of the "assembly scheme," which theoretically had potential risks and had to be carefully inspected one by one.

Any loose parts or signs of oil leakage should be marked in red immediately to ensure the safety of the components to the greatest extent possible.

Such a large project is definitely beyond the capacity of Zhang Guoqiang and his few other workers.

So Lin Qiming and a group of students from the Department of Mechanics who were doing experiments at the repair shop also joined in, helping to set up ledgers, make records, and run procedures.

The testing table was filled with rows of samples.

Zhang Guoqiang, Liu Kangwen, Tan Songren, and Zuo Zhuo took turns measuring the parts, from the shape, sealing, engagement, torque to the limit gap, one by one.

"This one is nice, the pattern is neat and the seams are clean."

"The seams are tight, but the polishing is a bit rough."

"This one... wait, why are the seams so flat?"

Liu Kangwen frowned and took the item under the light to examine it closely.

"What's wrong?" Tan Songren asked curiously as he leaned closer.

"Look at this area, the bottom of the limiting tooth is not straight, it has a slight hook, as if someone deliberately left a curved surface."

Liu Kangwen pointed to a spot inside the component and began to speak.

"A return hook?" Tan Songren reached out and took it, gently stroking it with his fingertips.

The steel material under my fingertips is smooth and easy to handle, with no unevenness at the joint.

"Even the joints are surprisingly neat... there's no sense of stepping at all."

“And this seam,” Liu Kangwen added from the side.

“There is a ring of copper sheet inside, and the thickness is asymmetrical. It is rolled by hand, not cut by machine.”

"Hand-rolled? Vocational school students have this skill?"

The group exchanged glances.

Logically speaking, it's already quite good if vocational school students can make a car based on the blueprints; who would dare to modify the process without authorization?
But these pieces in front of me not only have smooth joints, but also have an extra copper ring and a limiting tooth.

The copper rings varied slightly in thickness, yet they served precisely to cushion and seal the surface, showing that someone had put thought into it.

"Which technical school taught you how to do the splicing?" Director Lu asked curiously.

Zhang Nan pulled out the record card: "The number is from group seven, it's from Fengnan Technical School."

"I didn't realize Fengnan was so reliable!"

Looking at the batch of parts in his hand, Zhang Nan felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

He took a risk to modify the parts for this assembly scheme.

Although Chen Luyang said he would take responsibility for everything, he would have to bear the responsibility for the blueprints himself.

Now that he saw the finished product, the tension in his heart finally eased.

On the inspection table, samples are handled one after another.

Lin Qiming and a group of students registered on the side, Zhang Guoqiang, Tan Songren and Liu Kangwen were responsible for measuring torque, and Lu Ju and Zuo Zhuo marked the numbers on the form.

A dozen or so people were working up a sweat, but the atmosphere became increasingly relaxed.

After all the inspections, although some individual samples had tolerances that exceeded the limit by two millimeters and the thread openings were slightly off, the overall assembly rate exceeded 80%.

(End of this chapter)