Chapter 226 Printing Factory 2
The owner of the workshop approached with a smile.
"Mr. Factory Manager, ladies, do you have anything I can do for you?"
"Please accompany them on a tour of this workshop and introduce the printing process. Right."
"Yes."
The factory director nodded, and said to Irene and Ladi, "He is the director in charge of this workshop. If you have any questions, just ask him. I still have work to do, so I won't accompany you for now." Then he turned around Gone.
Irene pouted at the leaving figure of the factory director. La Di held her hand and turned to the workshop director and said, "I'll trouble you, Mr. Director. Betty and I really care about this place. I'm quite interested."
The director smiled awkwardly: "If you want to go somewhere, please follow me."
The three of them came to the nearest printing machine, and the director pointed at the machine. Explain the structure and working principle of the printing press to Irene and Ladi in detail.
There happened to be a worker operating the machine, and the two women watched the complete printing process.
Printers work in teams of two, taking turns to operate the plate table in and out and pull the printing press. This task is relatively labor-intensive, while evenly applying ink to the paper requires higher technical requirements.
A worker applies ink to the printing plate with a handle shovel, wipes it carefully with an ink roller, then takes the ink ball pad from the rack, taps it lightly on the ink, and then makes an arc on the plate Use friction to spread the ink evenly over the surface.
Next, apply ink to each page of the printing plate in sequence, and wipe the ink ball pad from time to time to adjust the distribution of the ink.
At the same time, another worker places a page of paper on the printing position fixed on the paper plate, then closes the upper paper clamping frame, and then uses his right hand to lower the paper plate, paper and paper clamping frame upwards On the flat surface of the ink type; hold the handle of the printing press tightly with your right hand, turn it so that it drives the front half of the plate table under the platen, pull down the handle of the printing press with your right hand, and move the second half of the plate table under the platen. Pull again, then relax the handle to make it spring back; lift the platen, move the plate table out, and remove the paper plate device.
“Wow! So simple! This printing press is so useful!”
Irene clapped her hands in joy, and the silver bell-like sound attracted everyone to look at her again. Of course, they didn't agree with her words: "Simple? This little girl said it too easily. Are you going to try printing 200 single pages in one hour? I'm sure it will make you cry."
The workshop director smiled and introduced: "After arranging one version, we will print all the planned number of papers on one side, then print the reverse side of the paper, hang it up to dry, and finally bind them and store them in the warehouse. Used The printing plate needs to be washed with lye and handed over to the typesetter to break it into movable type. "
"Is this movable type?"
Lady Setia walked next to the typesetter Sam. Looking at the metal movable type on the table, these small things were smaller than the nail of her little finger.
“Yes, yes, Consultant Setia, these are movable types. Even though they are small, they are really not easy to make.”
The workshop director introduced it in a showy tone.
“First have the letter engraver draw the letters on the end of the metal blank, then carve or file away the unnecessary metal, then harden these positive molds and punch them into brass or bronze to create the blank The width of the negative mold should vary with the size of the letters. "
"Next, all the raised metal parts of the stamping surface must be filed off, and the size of the negative mold must be adjusted so that the lettering mold can be accurately embedded in the appropriate position at the bottom of the impression. , and then handed the negative mold to the hands of the casters. When casting the movable type, the casters had to ensure that the molten metal filled every corner of the characters, which would test their skills. "
The two women exclaimed. : "It's so complicated!"
"So, how many pieces of paper can you print in a day?"
The workshop director made a rough estimate and replied: "For an ordinary-sized printing plate, two skilled printers can print 250 to 300 single pages per hour. If the printing plate is larger, it will be a bit difficult to apply ink evenly. The speed will be reduced.”
“Our workshop can print 3,000 pages a day, double-sided,” the director said proudly, “No other workshop is as fast as ours. The quality is not as good as ours."
Irene opened her mouth slightly and said in surprise: "This speed... is indeed much faster than copying books."
La. Ogi picked up a new bound book next to her, and she was pleasantly surprised to find that it turned out to be a collection of poems from her hometown, Kakuwan.
"This kind of book is still printed here?"
"Oh, you are talking about that one! Those are a batch of books from Cape Bay sent by the lord. Let us print them, but we don't recognize the ones on them Jiaowan language, it took a lot of effort to cast movable type and typeset it. It is said that the lord wants to sell them back to Jiaowan. I heard from the factory director that this is "Wet" written by some poet from Jiaowan. "Extremely", let me tell you, these Jiaowan guys are so full that they just write nonsense."
Ladi listened to a black line, and the workshop director didn't know the woman in front of him. The consultant is from Jiaowan, and he is still expressing his opinion: "Well, selling it back to those rich guys is also a very good business. I heard that everyone there is extremely rich... Oops !”
The director jumped up holding his feet.
Irene said apologetically: "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't pay attention when I took a step just now..."
The director looked at her delicate face and couldn't get angry. He waved his hand and said, "Haha, it's okay."
......
Irene and Ladi were in the factory. After visiting for a long time, it was almost noon before I left the samples to be printed and said goodbye and returned.
They chatted while walking, exchanging their views on what they had just seen.
"Betty, I think this printing press is a more amazing thing than those muskets and cannons."
"I think so too. As long as we build a few more printing presses, books will be so cheap that even ordinary people can afford them."
"The "Literacy Book" and "Basic Hygiene Manual" we just sent "Isn't it just for civilians? Although the things above are very simple, they are the key to opening the door to knowledge. Haha, you, the director of the Department of Education, can show off your skills."
"Well, I saw the printing press. I am indeed becoming more and more confident. Speaking of the Department of Education, if you had been there at that time, the idiot would have appointed you as the director."
"Don't say that, it is appropriate for you to take this position. Let those men take a good look at what we women are capable of."
Irene clenched her little fist: "I will definitely work hard."
She suddenly let go, as if she had thought of something, and said a little absently: "But, will the status of 'scholar' become less and less valuable?"
La Di's face darkened, and then she smiled sweetly. : "Isn't it what we like to see more people get knowledge?"
"That's right!"
Irene was relieved to see the other party being so open-minded. .
(End of this chapter)