When Liu Li received the special alloy steel blank, it was much heavier than ordinary steel. The surface was rough and abrasive. It looked gray and unremarkable, but Liu Li knew in her heart that the real test would come when the blade touched it.
Cutting the material wasn't difficult, but it required the utmost care. Following the dimensions on the process card, she cut the long bar into twenty equal-length blanks on the saw. She measured each section repeatedly with a tape measure, her eyes glued to the graduations, afraid of being off by even a millimeter. The ends also had to be cut perfectly flat, otherwise, the subsequent clamping and processing would be affected. The saw blade cut into the steel with a "squeak," emitting a burnt smell. Soon, sweat streamed down Liu Li's face.
The real challenge was in the roughing process. She clamped the first blank into the chuck, tightened it again and again, started the spindle, selected a conservative speed and feed rate, and slowly moved the cutting tool toward the workpiece—the expected smooth "hissing" sound didn't come; instead, there was a "crunching" sound, like scraping stone, dull and strenuous. The chips weren't beautiful silver-gray curls, but rather dull, shavings that stuck to the tool tip, requiring her to stop every now and then to pick them off with a hook.
After only one minute of machining, Liu Li felt the handwheel was incredibly heavy, and the machine tool was groaning and groaning as if it had run out of power. She quickly retracted the tool and stopped the machine. When she looked at the tool tip, she saw that the originally sharp cutting edge had been worn down to small nicks, and the surface of the workpiece was very rough, making it impossible to meet the requirements of precision machining.
This special steel truly lives up to its reputation! It's so sticky and hard, it's incredibly difficult to chew!
She changed to a newly sharpened tool and adjusted the parameters—lowering the spindle speed and increasing the feed rate—trying to "bite" the blade with force. The effect was a little better; the chips weren't as fine, but the tool was still sharp. After an entire afternoon, she had barely managed to finish turning two blanks. Her arms ached so much she could barely lift them, her palms were red from the friction, and she felt anxious and irritable.
At this rate, we definitely can't finish twenty sets in a week; there's still finishing work to be done. Liu Li looked at the two rough-machined parts on the workbench and a pile of worn-out tools, gritted her teeth, and went to Master Wang: "Master, I want to work overtime tonight to try other parameters and find a pattern."
Wang Jianguo was wiping his precious set of measuring tools when he looked up at her—her face was a little pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but the spirit in her eyes hadn't faded. He didn't say much, just nodded: "Be careful, get the warehouse key from the duty officer."
As darkness fell, everyone in the workshop left, leaving only a few incandescent lights on. The dim light cast long shadows of the machines. In the empty workshop, only Liu Li's lathe was turning, its roaring sound fading away, making the place seem particularly desolate.
She was determined to conquer this steel behemoth, her notebook filled with detailed notes—rotation speed, feed rate, depth of cut, the color and shape of the chips, how long each sharpening session would last—everything was meticulously recorded. After several attempts, either the tool was sharpened too quickly or the surface was too rough, waves of frustration washing over her. Once again, chips stuck to the tool and scratched the workpiece. Liu Li stopped the machine, sighed, wiped her forehead with her sleeve, and almost burst into tears—it was too difficult!
"Are you in trouble?"
Suddenly someone spoke softly behind her, startling Liu Li. She turned around and saw Fu Jingchen standing next to the machine tool with a blueprint rolled up in his hand and a concerned look on his face.
"Technician Fu? What brings you here?" Liu Li quickly stood up straight and tidied her messy sideburns.
"I came to the technical department to get some data. I saw the light was on here, so I came to take a look." Fu Jingchen took two steps closer, glanced at the workpiece on the lathe and her notebook, and immediately understood, "Is it a special material that's difficult to process?"
Liu Li nodded and told him about the problems she had encountered, her tone revealing her frustration.
Fu Jingchen listened attentively, unfolding the blueprints in his hand: "Perfect, I've revised the roughing process card based on the characteristics of this material. The original process provided by the bureau was too conservative." He pointed to the annotations on the blueprints, "Look, the rotation speed can be increased to soften the hard shell on the steel surface through frictional heat, and the feed rate can be reduced to make the chips thinner and less likely to stick to the tool; the rake angle of the tool can also be modified to make it easier for the chips to escape..."
He spoke in plain language, and the more Liu Li listened, the brighter her eyes became. She suddenly realized, "That's right! I was only thinking about slow and meticulous work before, how come I didn't think of this aspect!" The tightness in her heart suddenly dissipated, as if she had suddenly seen the light.
"Try this, pay attention to the chips and the wear on the blade, and adjust it as needed." Fu Jingchen handed her a copy of the drawing, his fingertips still stained with ink.
Liu Li took the blueprints as if they were precious treasures, and chatted with him about the details. The more they talked, the more they clicked, and they didn't even notice that someone was watching them from behind the waste pile at the other end of the workshop.
Sun Peng huddled in the shadows, clutching a small glass bottle, the clear liquid inside sloshing around. He'd seen Liu Li collect the special steel that afternoon, knowing she'd definitely be working overtime, so he'd deliberately dawdled until now. He'd slipped back into the workshop and, sure enough, saw Liu Li and Fu Jingchen together.
He crouched low, his feet barely touching the ground, careful not to make a sound, his eyes fixed on the coolant tank next to Liu Li's workbench—the water in that tank was freshly changed by her. A sinister smile crept across Sun Peng's lips as he slowly moved closer to the tank.
Over here, Liu Li had already installed the workpiece, sharpened the new tool, and started the lathe according to the parameters given by Fu Jingchen.
The effect was immediate! Although the sound was still a bit muffled, it was much less strenuous. The chips turned into short, thick, royal blue curls that fell off smoothly without sticking to the tool, and the workpiece surface was also much smoother!
"It's done! Technician Fu, look!" Liu Li's eyes shone brightly as she pointed at the shavings, her voice full of excitement.
Fu Jingchen smiled and said, "Not bad. Keep these parameters and remember to change the blade in time."
Liu Li felt warm and grateful to Fu Jingchen for helping her solve her problem. However, she did not notice that the originally clear coolant had quietly changed color, and an even more sinister conspiracy was about to pounce on her.
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