As Chen Hao removed the last load-bearing shaft from the lathe, he rubbed his fingers on the metal surface, leaving a trail of putty-like fingerprints. He didn't wipe them off; he simply wiped them on his trouser leg and turned to place the shaft into a tray. Three shafts, six ribs, and eight alloy beams were neatly stacked on the metal rack in the assembly area, like a row of soldiers waiting to be mustered.
"Alright." He clapped his hands. "All the parts are ready. Time to set up the stage and start the show."
Nana's projector appeared next to the stand, the screen flashed, and the assembly flowchart for the entire machine appeared. "It is recommended to prioritize the installation of the spindle and support frame to establish a reference center line."
"You make it sound like you're grabbing your bowl before you eat." Chen Hao bent down and picked up an alloy beam, but stopped after taking only two steps with a "ouch" sound. "This thing is heavier than the jeans I wore when I was fat."
"According to the calculation, the weight of a single beam is 23 kilograms, with an error of no more than 300 grams."
“Your calculations are quite accurate, but my arm isn’t a scale.” He panted as he placed the beam into the positioning slot and reached for the bolt holes. “Come on, take a look for me. Is this hole on the left crooked?”
The optical scanning line silently swept across the interface area, and Nana's calm voice rang out: "The left connector hole has a 0.3 mm offset, and the right one has a 0.25 mm offset. It is recommended to pause tightening."
Chen Hao's hand froze in mid-air, the wrench still clutched in his hand. "No way? I was absolutely sure I had it aligned perfectly just now."
"The material undergoes slight deformation after heat treatment, which is caused by the cumulative tolerance of the processing."
"So, after all the hard work of forging it into steel, it starts acting up?" He released his grip, took two steps back, and put his hands on his hips to examine the frame in front of him. "So what do we do now? Screw it down bit by bit?"
“A fine grinding tool can be used for minor adjustments.” Nana brought up the correction path. “The estimated grinding amount is 0.15 millimeters on each side, which will take about seven minutes.”
"Seven minutes? That would grind sparks out of the barrel!" He scratched his head, rummaged through his toolbox for a portable grinding head, plugged it in and tried it out. The "buzz" made his wrist go numb. "This thing shakes more than my first love."
He gritted his teeth and began polishing along the edge, sparks flying out of the gap like miniature fireworks. Nana monitored the changes in the gap in real time, reporting the data every thirty seconds.
"Current gap 0.21...0.18...0.16..."
"Are you chanting scriptures?" Chen Hao's hand trembled, almost brushing against the support next to him. "Don't rush me. This hand isn't a mechanical arm; I still need to make a living."
"Your muscle tremor frequency is higher than the stable operation threshold."
"Of course, I ate leftover cold buns from yesterday for lunch." He turned off the mill and blew on it. "Did it work?"
"The remaining gap is 0.08 millimeters, which is within the acceptable range."
“That settles it.” He repositioned it, and this time the bolt slid smoothly into the hole. When tightening the first nut, he deliberately turned it three times in slow motion. “See? That’s art.”
Next came the spindle installation. The two men worked together to lift the 80-centimeter-long spindle above the bearing housing and slowly lowered it. Just as it was about to be fully inserted, it got stuck in the last two centimeters.
"It won't move." Chen Hao's forehead was sweating as he pressed down on the shaft end with both hands. "Want to try harder?"
"It's not recommended." Nana's scan results showed uneven stress on the contact surface. "Forcing pressure may cause deformation of the bearing's inner ring."
"So it thinks my gift wasn't generous enough?" Chen Hao let go of his grip, squatted on the ground panting, "Do I have to burn paper money and pray for it?"
"It's more likely a poor fit between the shoulder and the chamfer of the base." Nana pulled up the 3D model for comparison. "I suggest using a guide cone to assist with positioning."
Where is the guide cone?
"Tool cabinet, second shelf, labeled G-12."
He pulled it out and saw it was a small, silver cone, shaped like a garlic press. "What's this thing for? To shove inside and smooth things over?"
"Insert the stuck part to guide the shaft to slide in smoothly."
"Alright, relationship expert online." He carefully inserted the cone into the gap and tapped it a few times. With a slight friction sound, the main shaft finally sank to the bottom.
With a "click," the positioning pin popped into the slot.
"It's done!" Chen Hao plopped down on the ground. "This is easier than childbirth—mainly because I didn't need an epidural."
“The birthing process is not in my basic care database.”
"Look, this is a blind spot in my knowledge." He waved his hand. "I'll have to catch up on my studies later."
After the main frame was assembled, the reinforcing ribs were installed. The four ribs were supposed to be welded tightly to both sides of the crossbeam, but when the third rib was installed, it was discovered that the bottom corner bolts could not reach the holes.
"Again?" Chen Hao stared at the misaligned interface. "Is it deliberately avoiding me or what?"
"The support was subjected to lateral pressure during transportation, which caused local deformation." Nana pointed out the location of the bend, "with a deviation of 0.5 degrees."
"So it can even shrink its bones?" He took out a level and compared it, then shook his head. "No way, if I try to twist it, it'll break itself first."
"It is recommended to use floating connectors for the transition."
Speak like a human.
"Add an adjustable connector to absorb errors."
“Oh, it’s about finding a middleman to mediate the conflict.” He pulled out a U-shaped adjusting piece from the inventory and gestured to the drilling position. “This thing looks like me before I lost weight—wide on both sides and narrow in the middle.”
After installation, the overall structure finally stabilized. Next up is the transmission system.
The flywheel assembly and pulleys were hoisted into place one by one. Chen Hao manually turned the main shaft to test its smoothness, but after only half a turn, he felt the resistance fluctuating.
“Something’s not right.” He frowned. “It’s like riding a bicycle up a steep hill.”
"Initial assessment indicates that the parallelism of the two axes is out of tolerance." Nana activated the laser calibration system, projecting a red line onto the base plane. "Current deviation is 0.1 degrees."
"This is only a little bit? Less than a hair's breadth."
"It is enough to cause resonance when running at high speed."
"So you mean it's quiet now, but inside it's already exploding?"
"That's one way to understand it."
“Okay, let’s not let it hold back.” He removed the base fixing bolts and took out several washers of different thicknesses from the accessories box. “Come on, add them layer by layer, like stacking hamburgers.”
After adding one tablet, test it once; add another tablet, test it again. After repeating this process six times, the manual rotation finally became as smooth as flowing water.
"Feeling better now?" He patted the edge of the flywheel. "It can't even shake anymore."
"The rotational resistance is uniform and there are no periodic fluctuations."
"Great, from now on I'll call you 'Shunliu'." He casually drew a smiley face on the wheel rim. "Give me a break at work, and I'll give you candy when I get off."
The final step was installing the protective cover. This large shell was made of composite material and had latches around its edges, which should have allowed for a one-button closure. However, when Chen Hao pushed it to the last latch, he found that the bracket was slightly bent inward, and the latch could not be inserted.
"Did it get crushed during transport again?" He reached out and touched the bent part. "How come this thing is even more fragile than me?"
"It is recommended to use a hydraulic straightener for partial repositioning."
“I’m not a seasoned mechanic.” He sighed, but still dragged the equipment over and clamped it between the two ends of the bracket. “If it had feelings, wouldn’t it be groaning in pain right now?”
"Metallic materials lack pain feedback mechanisms."
"Sigh, no wonder humans always feel so miserable." He pressed the pressure button, and the hydraulic rod slowly advanced, the support making a slight "squeak" sound as it gradually returned to its original position.
"Eighty percent of the material has been reset," Nana advised. "It is recommended to stop applying pressure to avoid reverse deformation."
He let go, aligned the lock again, and this time gave it a gentle push, locking it in place with a "click".
“All of them are on.” He took three steps back and looked up at the behemoth in front of him—the streamlined frame gleamed with a cold light, the main shaft was straight, the flywheel was rounded, and all the nodes were tightly interlocked, like a silent metal sculpture.
"Static assembly pass rate is 100%." A green indicator popped up on Nana's terminal. "It is recommended to proceed to the functional testing preparation stage."
"Don't rush." Chen Hao raised his hand and gently patted the spindle housing. "Let it rest for a while—we've been building it for much longer than it's been working."
He walked up to the control box, his finger hovering over the start button, but he didn't press it.
The workshop lights steadily illuminated the entire piece of equipment, and a faint metallic smell hung in the air. In the distance, the coolant circulation pump was still humming softly, as if gently warming up everything that was about to begin.
He withdrew his hand, turned around, picked up the whiteboard, and ticked the "Assembly complete" box.
The pen paused for a moment, then added a line of smaller text:
"Shunliu, don't kick the bucket tomorrow."
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