Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 46

Meanwhile, the Factory Manager calculated the dimensions, jotting down various formulas and numbers on a piece of paper.

Having roughly finished his calculations, the Factory Manager used the hoist to bring over a new stainless steel sheet. He intended to cut it into a circle.

After drawing a circular line, the Factory Manager proceeded to cut the circle using a plasma cutter. Since the cut surface was rough, he smoothed it out as much as possible with a belt sander to create a perfect circle.

After making two such circles, the Factory Manager drilled a hole in the exact center of each. This was where the steel pipe axle would pass through.

He then cut a straight line from the center hole to the edge of one of the circles, effectively removing a segment. This resulted in one complete circle and another that was slightly larger than a semicircle.

“Factory Manager-nim. I’m almost done.”

Channing, with his welding mask raised above his head, spoke as the Factory Manager finished drilling the holes and inspected his work.

“Did you polish the surface?”

“Yes. Tehez and I polished it all. It’s spotless.”

The Factory Manager nodded and pointed to the circular pieces he had just created.

“Use these to cover the front and back.”

“But one of them is missing a piece. Where did it go?”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be. You need a lid to put in and take out the laundry! Take it and weld it.”

Channing scratched his head, took the pieces, and went to weld them.

As before, he placed the circular frame on the floor, carefully positioned the welded cylinder on top, and then welded the four corners.

While Channing worked on that, the Factory Manager welded hinges and a latch onto the semicircular piece.

******

The Factory Manager brought over ball bearings and a long steel plate.

He drilled a hole in one end of the long steel plate using the drilling machine and then bent the end of the plate to a 90-degree angle using the press.

After measuring the length with a tape measure and cutting off the excess with the press, the Factory Manager placed the steel plate against the outer surface of the ball bearing and tack welded it in place.

He arranged four ball bearings in a cross shape and tack welded them together before completing the final welds. The steel plate was now firmly attached to the ball bearings.

The Factory Manager spun the inside of the bearing with his finger. With a whirring sound, the inside of the bearing rotated smoothly.

“Good. No problems here.”

“Factory Manager-nim! I’m finished welding this.”

As the Factory Manager placed the completed part on the table, Channing approached. The Factory Manager handed him the semicircular cover.

“Here. Take this and weld it too. Tehez! Tehez, bring the steel pipe over here and insert it.”

The Factory Manager approached the cylinder. As Channing began welding the cover onto the cylinder lying on its side, the Factory Manager helped Tehez insert the steel pipe through the center of the other cylinder.

“Do we weld this too?”

“Yes, of course. Tehez, weld that side. I’ll weld this side.”

Tehez put on her protective mask and started welding, and the Factory Manager began welding as well.

The Factory Manager started welding right next to Channing, who was squatting and welding. He began welding with swift and skillful movements.

Although Channing started welding first, he was slower than the Factory Manager, so it took him longer.

“Have some snacks while you work. Here’s bread and drinks.”

While everyone was busy welding, Illia entered the workshop, carrying a tray with bread and drinks. The bread wasn’t ordinary bread; it was sweet red bean bread that the Factory Manager had purchased specifically.

At the mention of bread, Channing’s face lit up, and he jumped to his feet.

“Oh! Is it that sweet bread?! That’s delicious!”

“Isn’t it too soft?”

Tehez also raised her protective mask and spoke, but upon seeing Channing, she froze in surprise. Illia was also startled and placed the tray on the table, shouting,

“Channing-oppa! Your clothes are on fire!”

“What?!”

At Illia’s cry, Channing frantically turned his head, checking his body.

“Your back! Your back is on fire!”

Tehez finally managed to speak, and Channing twisted his head as far as he could to look at his back.

Seeing white smoke rising from his back and feeling the heat, Channing’s face drained of color, turning even whiter.

“Waaaaah!”

Seeing his body on fire, Channing panicked and started running around, and Tehez didn’t know what to do.

“He… Help me!”

“Waaaaah! Channing! Channing!”

Seeing Channing running around wildly and Tehez frozen in panic, the Factory Manager sighed, grabbed Channing by the back of his neck, and tripped him.

Channing collapsed onto the floor.

Looking down at Channing, the Factory Manager shouted,

“You idiot! Calm down and roll on the floor!”

Channing quickly started rolling on the floor, and the Factory Manager calmly took off his jacket and started hitting Channing with it.

The fire on his clothes was quickly extinguished.

“It’s out now.”

“Uh… Ugh…”

Exhausted from rolling on the floor, Channing slowly sat up at the Factory Manager’s words.

“Are you alright?!”

Finally regaining her senses, Tehez rushed over to Channing and examined his back.

“Does it hurt?!”

“Uh?… Uh.”

Tehez saw the holes burned through Channing’s work clothes and the slightly singed undershirt. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured.

“How are you, Oppa?”

“It’s a little hot, but… I’m okay.”

Illia also approached and asked, and Channing touched his back through his clothes with his gloved hand. The Factory Manager put his jacket back on, walked over, and flicked Channing on the head.

“You idiot. The work clothes are made of fire-retardant material! Why did you panic and run around like that?!”

“I almost turned into roasted elf! How can I not panic? Besides, wasn’t it because you were welding too close! The welding sparks flew down because you were welding above me!”

“Ahem…”

The Factory Manager coughed awkwardly and looked away at Channing’s complaint, and Tehez and Illia burst into laughter at the sight.

“Let’s stop there and have some snacks. Channing! Go to the storage room and get a new set of work clothes.”

“Yes. Yes. I understand. Let’s finish this quickly. It’s almost closing time.”

Channing picked up a sweet red bean bun, and the Factory Manager raised his drink, nodding. Taking a large bite of the bun, Channing finally seemed to have calmed down and smiled.

“I love this sweet red bean bread.”

“Cream bread is tastier.”

“Can we even call this bread? If it has filling, shouldn’t it be considered a pie?”

Tehez questioned Channing and Illia’s comments, and Channing shrugged.

“Is that so? The outside is bread. Just a little soft.”

“But it’s sweet because of the sugar. And the filling too. If a baker made this bread, the pastry chefs would be furious, wouldn’t they?”

Tehez looked at the cross-section of the bread. The white bread was filled with dark red bean paste.

“Would that really be such a big deal? It’s all bread.”

“It would be a huge problem. You know how much bakers and pastry chefs hate each other.”

Tehez responded to the Factory Manager’s question, and Illia added after taking a sip of her drink,

“You know Mr. Katol, who owns the bakery at the end of the alley, right?”

“Katol? Yes, I know him. We sometimes drink together at the pub.”

“Last time I went to buy bread, he was having a huge fight with some men who came from the noble district. It was quite scary.”

“Ah, I heard about that. Mr. Katol bought sugar, and that caused a commotion, right?”

Channing chimed in, and the Factory Manager frowned, confused.

“Why would buying sugar cause a problem?”

“Bakers aren’t allowed to use sugar in their bread. That’s why the Pastry Guild members came and caused a scene. They accused him of buying sugar to use in his bread.”

Tehez answered the Factory Manager’s question.

“In the end, Mr. Katol threw the bread he baked at the pastry chefs, telling them to taste it and see if it had sugar in it. After tasting the bread, the Pastry Guild members left, and the matter was settled.”

“But why did he buy so much sugar? It’s not cheap.”

The Factory Manager spoke after finishing the rest of his bread.

“He said he was making soft bread for his mother, who has bad teeth, when we were drinking together last time.”

“Hee… Does adding sugar make it softer?”

“Well, it must be because of the fermentation. You need sugar for proper fermentation.”

The Factory Manager answered Channing’s question, and Tehez looked at him in surprise.

“Factory Manager-nim, you know about bread too?”

“Huh? How would I know about bread? I’ve only ever worked with metal. But for bread to become soft, it needs to ferment and rise well, and sugar helps with that.”

Tehez quickly took out her notebook.

“Why is sugar necessary?”

“I don’t know the details. Anyway, for bread to rise well, it needs to ferment, and adding sugar helps with the fermentation process. I just overheard my wife talking about it when she was baking as a hobby, so I don’t know much.”

Tehez started jotting down notes in her notebook, and Illia looked at her.

“Unni, hurry up and eat so we can clean up the dishes.”

“Ah, sorry. Okay.”

Tehez quickly gulped down her drink and looked at her notebook with the bread in her mouth, and the Factory Manager sighed.

“Ask a baker about bread and let’s get back to work. We need to finish this quickly.”

The Factory Manager got up, and Tehez hurriedly chewed her bread.

******

After their snack break, the three finished welding and carefully pushed the completed cylinder into the wooden barrel using the hoist.

“Got it from the back?!”

“Yes! Push it in!”

Channing replied from behind the barrel, and the Factory Manager operated the hoist.

While Channing held the steel pipe in place with a thin iron rod inserted through a hole in the wood, Tehez pushed the hoisted cylinder inward.

The steel pipe emerged through the hole in the ball bearing fitted within the wooden hole, guided by the iron rod Channing was holding.

“Good!”

Simultaneously, the Factory Manager inserted the pre-made cross-shaped ball bearing assembly onto the steel pipe.

Tehez, who was waiting nearby, tightly secured it in place by bolting a pre-drilled plate onto the assembly.

When they released the round sling attached to the hoist, the metal cylinder was perfectly positioned inside the wooden barrel.

The Factory Manager tightened the bolts to secure the steel pipe and ball bearings and manually rotated the metal cylinder. With a rattling sound, the cylinder began to rotate smoothly.

“Ooh!”

“It’s rotating well.”

“It’s complete for now.”

While they shared their impressions and the joy of completion, Illia approached the finished washing machine.

She stepped onto the temporary wooden frame supporting the massive wooden barrel and tiptoed to reach the metal cylinder inside, rotating it with her hand.

Perhaps due to the well-balanced center of gravity, the cylinder rotated smoothly even with Illia’s push.

Looking at the rotating cylinder, Illia turned to the others and asked,

“So how do you put water in here, and how do you turn this cylinder?”

Channing and Tehez, who were smiling, stopped and looked at each other.

“Now that you mention it…”

“How do we turn this?”

Tehez and Channing looked at the Factory Manager and asked, and he grinned.

“There’s a way for everything. Did you think I’d make this without thinking about that?”

Tehez and Channing looked at the cylinder for a moment and then nodded.

“That’s true. You wouldn’t have made it carelessly. Alright. So we’re done for the day, right?”

“Yes. But we have to go out tomorrow, so pack some equipment. Pack the impact driver, grinder, and oxy-fuel welding equipment too.”

“Huh? Why suddenly? We don’t have any installation requests, do we?”

Channing was surprised by the Factory Manager’s sudden announcement and asked, and the Factory Manager nodded.

“We have an installation request, that’s why. Tehez, pack the equipment too. We have to leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it.”

Tehez responded to the Factory Manager’s words, and Channing sighed and began to gather the toolboxes.