The plan was finalized, and the trust placed in them was fully expressed. Several high-powered light bulbs were strung up in the workshop, illuminating the grinding machine's transmission box as brightly as day, almost blindingly so. The air was tense; you could hear even breathing. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Liu Li's hands—those hands clenched and unclenched, as she quietly wiped sweat from her work pants, her hands moving with remarkable steadyness.
Master Wang stood beside her, like an iron tower, silent, his eyes fixed on her every move, filled with reassurance. Foreman Zhang and several experienced mechanics waited with their tools, while Fu Jingchen stood guard beside the precision measuring instruments, his eyes fixed intently on the data.
Liu Li took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and went through Fu Jingchen's calculations in her mind—how much the phase angle needed to be adjusted, how many millimeters the gap between the two gears needed to be, everything was clear. When she opened her eyes again, there was nothing else in her eyes but focus, just like when she was filing the dovetail groove during the martial arts competition.
The first step is to adjust the phase of the faulty gear. This is a very delicate task; the gear is tightly engaged with the shaft, so you have to slowly turn it using a hydraulic puller with a dial. Liu Li clamped the puller's claws onto the gear hub, made sure it wasn't crooked, and then placed her hand on the pressure handle.
"Press slowly," Master Wang said in a deep voice.
Liu Li nodded, slowly applying force with her wrist. The hydraulic device hissed, and the needle on the pressure gauge climbed up little by little. She was completely focused, able to feel the subtle vibrations from the metal—she was afraid of using too much force and damaging the gears or shafts. As soon as she felt the gears and shafts become slightly looser, she immediately stopped.
Then, he turned the fine-tuning knob on the puller. With each turn, the gear moved a little. Fu Jingchen calculated that it would turn fifteen and a half times, but Liu Li turned it slower than a snail, counting each turn, her breathing keeping pace with the rhythm. Master Wang stared at the thin line she had drawn on the gear beforehand, aligning it with the reference line on the shaft.
"Fourteen and a half bars, slow down!" Master Wang said in a low voice.
Liu Li pressed her fingertip against the knob, slowly pushing it to the last half-step until Master Wang nodded, then she let go. Fu Jingchen quickly came over, measured it with a dial indicator, and suddenly looked up: "That's right! It's exactly the same as the calculation!"
Some people in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, but the real challenge was yet to come—adjusting the meshing clearance. This required synchronizing the bearing housings of the gears on both sides and adjusting the center distance; even a slight deviation was unacceptable.
Master Wang took the lead himself, letting Liu Li direct him. He and Squad Leader Zhang each held a long-handled box wrench, wedging it into the adjusting screw. "You tell me how to move it, and we'll do it that way," Master Wang said.
Liu Li picked up the stethoscope, placed one end against the transmission box and the other against her ear, and closed her eyes: "Pre-tighten first to eliminate the thread runout."
The two experienced workers exerted force in unison, and the wrench clicked, its free play gone. "Master Wang, turn clockwise, five millimeters in; Foreman Zhang, turn counterclockwise, also five millimeters in. Slow down, keep the force even."
The wrench turned slowly, making a hissing sound. Liu Li pressed her ear to the stethoscope and could hear the grinding of the gears—it had been a muffled click before, but now it was becoming smoother. "Stop! Master Wang, go in another inch, Foreman Zhang, don't move," she called out, then listened again. "Okay, now both sides together, go in another half inch, very slowly!"
Her world consisted only of listening to the sound from the measuring stick, like tuning an instrument, finding the smoothest rhythm. Fu Jingchen measured the displacement beside her, and it matched her judgment, ensuring that it hadn't gone astray.
Nearly two hours later, sweat was dripping down Liu Li's forehead, Fu Jingchen's eyes were red, and Master Wang's arms were aching. Only then did she shout, "Master Wang, back down by one-tenth of an inch... Yes, just like that, stop!"
Fu Jingchen quickly went up to measure, checking the gaps and the contact marks on the tooth surfaces. Finally, he straightened up and exclaimed, "All correct! Even better than expected!"
"Great!" Director Zhao couldn't help but shout, his hands clenching tightly.
Everyone clapped and laughed. Master Wang patted Liu Li on the shoulder, a firm pat that conveyed his sincerity. Liu Li smiled too, her hand trembling slightly from exhaustion.
Next, he cleaned, oiled, and covered the transmission box, then tested the machine. Director Zhao walked to the switch, his hands trembling slightly, and took a deep breath before pressing the green button.
The grinder hummed to life, without any vibration or strange noises, just as stable as when it was working perfectly! The dial indicator needle on the machine bed had very little wobble, even better than the factory standard. The inspector quickly mounted the test piece, finished grinding it, measured it with a micrometer, and ran over with his measuring tools, his voice almost hoarse: "Roundness 0.0003 mm! Cylindricity 0.0005 mm! Surface finish is also sufficient! Better than before the repair!"
The workshop erupted in excitement! The veteran workers patted each other on the shoulder, the younger ones jumped and shouted, and Zhang Shulan rushed over, hugged Liu Li's arm, tears streaming down her face, but still grinning from ear to ear: "It's done! Xiao Li, you're amazing!"
Liu Li stood there, her legs so tired they felt weak, but her heart was burning with warmth. Looking at the smoothly turning grinder, the test piece in her hand, and the beaming smiles of everyone around her, she knew she had truly succeeded—not only had she fixed the machine, but she had also lived up to everyone's trust.
The humming sound of the grinder sounds better than anything else right now, like a song for those who strive.
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