sinovels Chapter 80 Stitching
Chapter 80 Stitching
The day of the competition is getting closer and closer, and everyone at the service station is preparing.
Ahai's diesel engine disassembly and assembly speed has already met the provincial competition standard. Lao Fang squatted down next to him with a stopwatch, occasionally nodding in approval.
Ding Haisheng finally mastered the parameters for overhead welding of thick plates, single-sided welding, and double-sided forming. The back of the weld was uniformly formed, and all three data points on the inspection scale met the standards.
The major overhaul of Hong Xiaobing's third uncle's fishing boat is nearing completion. The diesel engine has been reinstalled, and the exhaust smoke on the day of the test run was so faint that it was almost invisible.
But Lin Xiu'e knew in her heart that among the four competition items for the service station, sewing was the most special one.
The main unit has torque wrench data for disassembly and assembly, welders have weld seam inspection gauges to measure tolerances, and fault diagnosis has troubleshooting flowcharts. But when it comes to grouting, it relies on feel.
If the groove is cut too deep, it will damage the good board; if it is cut too shallow, it will leave rotten roots. If the hemp fibers are not stuffed in properly, they will not be able to be twisted tightly; if they are stuffed in too tightly, the board will crack. If the tung oil is too thin, it will dissolve in water; if it is too thick, it will crack when it dries.
Even the slightest difference is unacceptable.
The judging standards for the provincial competition are much stricter than those for regular boat repair. Judges use calipers to measure the depth of the grooves, magnifying glasses to check the uniformity of the hemp fibers, and fingertips to feel the smoothness of the seams.
Every seam is an exam that cannot be erased.
That morning, Lin Xiue arrived at the stone trough half an hour earlier than usual.
Before dawn, the last few stars on the sea were slowly sinking, and the clouds in the east were tinged with pale orange by the morning light.
She moved the basin of tung oil ash from the windowsill, sifted the lime three times, and added the tung oil from the bucket that Master Song brought back from Hongjia Island this spring. The proportions had been adjusted for the dry autumn season, with an extra half spoonful of tung oil added.
The prepared tung oil putty was divided into four basins and neatly arranged on a stone platform against the wall, with each basin covered with a damp cloth.
She moved the newly arrived thick wooden planks out of the old parts warehouse. There were eight pine planks, each two feet long, with old grooves of different depths and curvatures cut into them beforehand. Some of the corners were close to the simulated ribs, and some of the cracks curved along the direction of the keel.
These training boards were made by her own hands a few days ago, drawing lines one by one according to the scoring rules of the provincial competition's twisting and sewing event.
Old Fang squatted at the workshop entrance, striking his first match of the day.
The light was on in the kitchen, and Lin Xiu'e was already kneading dough.
She rolled the dough back and forth on the cutting board, pushing it out with her palms and pulling it back with her knuckles until it was smooth. She then pinched off small, evenly sized pieces and arranged them on a bamboo mat.
The red beans were soaked last night and were fully saturated with water. They crumbled easily when pinched between your fingers, and the powdery red bean paste dripped through your fingers.
She put the red bean buns into the steamer, covered it, wiped her hands with her apron, and went out of the kitchen to the stone trough.
Jiang Haiping carried a jar of boiling water out of the dormitory, squatted down at the workshop entrance, and placed the jar at his feet.
He wants to see Lin Xiue complete all eight seams from start to finish today.
It wasn't the usual boat repair technique; it was a simulation training exercise completely based on the provincial competition scoring standards.
After the groove is cut, measure the depth with calipers. After the hemp fibers are torn, check the uniformity with a magnifying glass. After the stitching is finished, feel the smoothness with your fingertips.
She had to do her best in every single task, because the provincial judges wouldn't show any leniency to anyone.
Lin Xiu'e squatted down by the stone trough and took the chisel out of her tool bag.
This chisel was passed down to her by Qiu Changhai; its blade gleamed with a dull, ethereal light in the morning glow.
She picked up the slate from the stone block and drew a positioning line on each end of the groove of the first pine plank.
One of the judging criteria for the provincial competition is the uniformity of the groove depth. The judges use calipers to measure three points, and the depth error cannot exceed the specified tolerance.
She used to rely on her feel to cut grooves. When Qiu Changhai taught her, he said, "Your fingers are more accurate than your eyes." But the provincial judges didn't look at her feel; they looked at the calipers.
She placed the calipers beside her; they were new calipers she had received from Ah Guang's registration book a few days ago, and they needed to be calibrated every six months.
Qiu Changhai slowly walked over from the asbestos tile shed.
He twirled the two walnuts, polished smooth and shiny, in his hand, and walked to the stone trough without sitting back down on his stone stool as usual.
Instead, he squatted down next to Lin Xiu'e, took out his old chisel that he had used for almost his whole life from his tool bag, tested the blade with his fingertip, and said that the pine boards used in the provincial competition were made of pine wood, which was different in hardness from the locust wood boards used on fishing boats. Pine wood has a softer grain, so he had to hold back a bit when cutting.
Lin Xiu'e picked up the chisel in her hand, gripped it again, and adjusted the position of her thumb and forefinger.
She had practiced on pine planks on old ship planks for a long time and knew that pine wood had a soft grain and that the angle of the slant had to be adjusted to follow the grain.
Qiu Changhai didn't say anything more. He took two steps back and sat on the stone stool, placing the walnuts on his knees and looking at the chisel in her hand.
Lin Xiu'e took a deep breath and wedged the chisel blade into the dividing line between the rotten wood and the good board in the first groove.
She struck the first blow, and the rotten wood split open, revealing a clean cut.
She didn't continue hammering, but stopped to take calipers and measure the depth of the groove, noting it in the register.
Then, with the second and third hammer blows, after the entire groove was finished, she used calipers to measure three points along the bottom of the groove from beginning to end, and all three numbers were within the tolerance range.
She exhaled the breath she had been holding for a while, wiped the blade with cotton gauze, and then began to make the second cut.
The sun rises from the sea, and the morning light filters through the leaves of the loquat tree, dappling the edge of the stone trough.
Old Fang squatted at the workshop entrance, stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe, stood up, walked to the stone trough, and looked at the second groove that Lin Xiu'e had just finished carving.
He didn't say anything, but squatted down, took out calipers, measured the depth, and then put down the calipers and left.
The others in the courtyard were also preparing for their own matches.
Ahai continued disassembling and assembling diesel engines in the workshop, the clicking sound of the torque wrench coming from inside.
Ding Haisheng squatted in the welding area of the new workshop, moving the welding rod at a constant speed. He was consolidating the parameters for single-sided welding and double-sided forming of thick plates in overhead welding. After the current stabilized, the data deviation of the back forming of several consecutive welds became smaller and smaller. He recorded each one on the record sheet.
Ah Guang squatted down beside him, handing him welding rods, while holding a weld seam inspection ruler in his hand, waiting to take measurements.
Hong Xiaobing and Ashun were sorting out spare parts for refurbished water pumps in the old parts warehouse. The inventory of refurbished parts in the register had been updated to reflect the latest batch of new nameplates that had arrived.
Lin Xiu'e encountered trouble when she reached the fourth groove.
The bend in this groove is right next to a pine board that simulates ribs. If the angle is too large, it will injure the ribs; if it is too small, the rotten wood will not be cleaned properly.
After she finished the first round of trimming, she measured it with calipers and found that the depth was too shallow at the bend, and some roots of the rotten wood remained.
She trimmed it a second time, and this time, after measuring three points with calipers, the depth at the bend was finally level with the front and back.
However, when she was working on the latter half of the groove, the chisel blade somehow deviated slightly, and a piece of good board at the edge of the groove was lightly rubbed.
Although it doesn't affect the overall stress distribution of the groove, the provincial judges will definitely deduct points when they inspect it with a magnifying glass.
She placed the chisel on her lap, glanced at the tiny scratch, circled the mistake in her training logbook, and memorized the location.
Qiu Changhai stood up, walked over to her, squatted down, and used a chisel to measure the edge of the pine board. He said that the pine wood grain was soft, and the angle of the turn should be half a degree smaller. When turning, he should twist his wrist to maintain the curve.
He returned the chisel to her, then went back to sit on the stone stool and put the walnuts in his hand into his pocket.
Lin Xiu'e continued to trim the fifth groove.
This time, referring to the angle Qiu Changhai had just pointed out, she twisted her wrist and the chisel blade slid steadily along the dividing line between the rotten wood and the good board, making the turn much smoother.
She measured the three points with calipers, and the numbers were all within the tolerance range.
The sun had already risen as high as the mast, and the first batch of red bean buns in the kitchen was ready.
Lin Xiu'e stood up and rubbed her numb legs. She marked the tolerance range of each groove she had already cut on the new register, and marked the less than ideal corners with emphasis.
Jiang Haiping stood up from the workshop door and reminded her to review the provincial competition's stitching scoring rules with Master Qiu again in the afternoon.
Of the eight newly arrived pine planks, three remain uncut. Before the competition, each plank must undergo a complete grouting process, from grooving to paneling to grouting to maintenance. Every step must be done according to the provincial competition standards.
Lin Xiu'e responded, wiped the chisel clean and put it back in her tool bag, then turned and went into the kitchen to fetch the red bean buns.
The training board beside the stone trough was slightly warmed by the sun, and the newly carved grooves on the board quietly awaited the hemp fibers and tung oil putty in the afternoon.
The waves lapped gently against the stone trough, one after another, without haste or slowness.