~： Three hundred and eighty sheets, there must be a squirrel cage crane

Rurik intends to create an important device for the Rus people in this far north that they have never seen, and never even imagined.

Everyone has no idea what exactly the word crane means and what positive changes it can bring about. Everyone only knows that the equipment Rurik wants to manufacture has the ability to carry heavy wood onto the sled. Rurik even boasted that once the construction of this thing is completed, only two to four people are needed to complete the task that previously required twenty people to complete.

If someone else says this, it must be nonsense.

The words came from Rurik, and everyone believed it to be true. Now, a group of strong Ross hunters, they suddenly became loggers and carpenters.

Do you want to hunt in winter? Maybe it's no longer possible.

More than a hundred Ross hunters who are good at logging and wood processing were retained by Rülik with very tangible rewards.

The so-called running to the north to catch ferrets is for money, and expensive ferrets are not often available, and hunting risks are very high in extreme cold conditions. Since it's all about asking for money, Lord Rurik is willing to give food and silver coins to all those who work for him in order to complete his great plan. Why not do this business of selling labor?

Otto felt that his son's decision was a bit absurd, and the strongest hunters stayed one after another, making this year's hunting situation complicated.

"You stay here and there and don't go, I'll take the tribe to catch the bear." Otto didn't need to say any more, so he took his "mighty" hunting team and ran east along the coastline. As for when to come back, it will take a month to say less.

The main members of the hunting team are all there, and they are deliberately rushing to the Oulu River Basin to **** the leather resources in the forest with the local Corvin tribe, and by the way, they are also exploring and looking for new opportunities.

For example, the Tavastian news from the Corvins. If these tribes that did not surrender to the Rus were really discovered, Otto would not need to think about it like Rurik, he would not talk about it. Reasonable and direct attack. Not surrendering is a potential enemy, and hunting an enemy is a kind of hunting with great returns.

Fort Elrond was crowded for four days, and the permanent and temporary population of the settlements dropped significantly.

But the settlement is still very lively. Rülik mobilized three hundred men and all the Corvin women, totaling nearly five hundred people, and created a spectacle under his personal control-a large wooden squirrel cage. crane.

Just in terms of principle, the squirrel cage crane is not a complicated machine. For Rurik, who has been educated in the discipline of mechanical manufacturing and has made great achievements in this area, he naturally thinks it is simple.

In fact, it is clearly a Roman ruin, and it was also created by the knowledge of classical mechanics inherited from ancient Greece.

The Western Empire was destroyed, and the inheritance of knowledge from the old age was also interrupted. Of course, Frank's Carolingian Renaissance has rescued some Western Roman heritage. For example, knowledge of construction technology, painting, and construction machinery. At a time when the knowledge from Eastern Rome and the food is not re-flowed, the Franks, from the nobility to the farmer, do not know what a squirrel-cage crane is.

Fortunately, they are at least very aware of the principle of leverage and some very basic knowledge, so that they are able to build a stone castle.

In the current era, only those lords in the north of Frankish, because they are on the front line of expansion and resisting foreign counterattacks, have the motivation to spend huge sums of money to build stone castles. As for the general lord, it is to sharpen the stakes on the ground and build the so-called castle with pure wood.

Even the Franks don’t know what the various tribes of the Viking family around the Baltic Sea know.

Today, Rurik is going to build the squirrel cage crane and put it into use at the end of the Gulf of Bothnia, in the settlement of Fort Elon on the Kemi River.

Because this is a great equipment that must be manufactured, its current design purpose is to serve winter material shipments, and those reindeer sledges are equivalent to the "load trucks" of this era. Although it is very dependent on the earth and the ocean being frozen, it can naturally be used as an ore loading and unloading machine for the reindeer trolley (with very limited load) in the warm period.

When it succeeded, it was based on a similar design to build port machinery equipment for the piers in Roseburg and Elronburg.

Lurik had to take precautions into consideration that when there are more and more ships imitating Caravel-type ships in the new era, the loading and unloading of port materials can no longer rely solely on porters. What's more, the population of the Rus tribe is really limited, and the human resources are relatively scattered, but it is very dependent on the ocean transportation of materials.

It is necessary to build a port machinery crane with a long boom in the port, and even a wooden gantry crane is also needed in the future.

The plan was finalized, and he also boasted to his father. If you neglect this matter, you will damage your reputation.

Rurik summoned his workers to start action.

It is too far-fetched to expect illiterate people to do complex work. The quality of the population under Ross's control is like this. Lurik has no extravagant expectations about their craftsmanship, but only wants the "carpenters" among them to be as good at handling as they claim to be. wood.

Rurik is someone who understands the principles of "sweatshop" management in the 21st century.

It is totally unrealistic to expect that the people of the tribes really work hard for 18 hours a day, just like those English workers of the first industrial revolution. Because the bankrupt farmers do not have the right to beg, nor the right to enter the mountains and forests as hunters. Apart from working for the early factory owners, the only way is to emigrate to the wild west of the New World on the other side.

The Ross people as a whole are still in their original state, and Rurik can't force them excessively, even if his status is extremely noble.

Another factor that limits their working hours is the absolute lack of night lighting.

The working hours of construction cranes are mainly limited during the day. When the night is completely covered, it becomes unrealistic to continue working in an all-round way.

In this way, Rurik grouped his people into groups to maximize the efficiency that can be implemented in the limited daytime.

People started to take action, some were responsible for sawing huge fir, some were responsible for cutting pine lumber, and some were rubbing hemp rope.

The most critical part of the squirrel-cage crane is a batch of bearings made of metal. Only to make these, Rurik decided to personally supervise the work of the Kewen blacksmith.

As for those women, their biggest job is to be in charge of logistics. They have to be in charge of the work of cooking and washing, and when they really have free time, they also help with the important work of rubbing hemp rope.

More than three hundred strong men, they turned Elronburg into a huge timber processing factory.

Especially for the six huge cedar trees, Rurik couldn't think of it. For the smooth construction and use of the crane, they became the first timber to be processed.

Why? Just because the wood quality of spruce is better than that of red pine, it can withstand greater force pulling. Besides, they have been in the dry and cold outdoors for more than a month, and they have become more balanced.

When oak was not available, Rurik had to use spruce to make all the weighing parts of the equipment.

In this way, the ten stika timbers in the middle part of the spruce trunk were slowly cut off by a double saw. Caravel, a boat with a displacement of 50 tons, needs a 30-meter mast? Just ten meters is enough! That's what Rurik thinks, but ten stikas, with a trunk of 9.8 meters in length, are still very long in the snow.

For the stability and anti-settlement of the equipment, people will build two cranes at a distance of about ten meters to lay the foundation outside the gate of the west gate of Fort Elon.

The strong man dug the frozen soil, and with the power of manpower and reindeer, he laid down two thick cedar piles. The fir was erected quickly on top of the wooden piles. One end can be described as looking up at the sky, and the other end is buried in the soil. This very thick wooden pole is the permanent fixed boom of the crane.

At its rear end, two "squirrel cages" with a diameter of four stikas are installed. Operators will walk in the cages and drive the bearings to rotate to continuously tighten the hemp ropes to achieve the lifting of the crane. In order that the operator does not need to consume too much physical effort, of course, a pulley block should be used at the boom.

It is this equipment with an uncomplicated structure. At the beginning, Rurik estimated that he would build a ratchet system. He especially thought of the "two-way ratchet wrench" of later generations. He could completely give the "rats" a design based on this design. "Cage" is a set of ratchet retracting and rewinding system, which is still too complicated to think about.

Ratchet facilities are still necessary, even if Rurik feels that the friction of the large amount of twine close to the bearing, and the weight of the squirrel cage, can resist the pulling of the transported object and ensure that the operator can move through the direction , Easily complete the work of winding up the Range Rover.

Just in case, in order to avoid the accidental fall of the heavy objects, the ratchet is still to be done, but this ratchet is special.

Rurik decided that the huge squirrel cage itself would be made into wooden gears. The ratchet latches in the rotation direction of the vacant squirrel cage are designed on both sides of the squirrel cage, so that only the correct latches are required to take up and unwind the line, and the accidental fall of the goods is completely prevented.

Looking at the squirrel cages, in order to make four squirrel cages, Rurik used as many as fifty carpenters.

The squirrel cage is not round, but has sixteen sets of pine spokes that are pieced together into a sixteen-sided shape. The so-called spokes are thicker pine wood, so when the squirrel cage with a diameter of close to four meters is completed, it is rudimentary as a whole.

It can be built more elaborately, but Rurik doesn't want to waste so much time.

Making a squirrel cage is a big project, and making bearings made of ferrochrome is even more complicated.

The largest furnace in Elronburg became the key to making bearings.

Making ball bearings? The Ross people don't have this kind of high-tech capability, and even roller bearings can't be made right now.

The biggest stove burned some iron pillars, and they were beaten continuously by workers immediately after being picked up. According to Rurik’s request, they were beaten into cylinders as much as possible, but only the two ends were required to be smashed (in order to embed the wood).里), and the overall column shape is still guaranteed.

Without ball bearings, what Rurik thinks of is metal hard contact bearings. This technology is no stranger to the residents of Elonburg. The bearings of the waterwheels on the riverside are hard contacts. As long as they are diligent in filling grease, and based on the stable operation experience of the waterwheel, this kind of metal hard contact is acceptable.

Those men are all working hard, and the compensation for them is the hard indicator of two pounds of oats per person, fish and salt are not included.

Each of them will also receive a "salary" of five silver coins, among which workers engaged in squirrel cage manufacturing and iron smelting will have a "salary" of ten silver coins. This "salary" is fair, and it won't be a little bit less than the Ross people just because they are Kewen people. The supply of food is the same and fair for everyone.

Rurik has ready-made silver coins on hand. If it is not enough, he can exchange it for ready-made oats. Seventy thousand pounds of oats is no joke.

As a result, they worked hard mainly during the short day and worked for a while after night fell. The daily consumption of oats in Fort Elon was gradually approaching the terrible figure of 1,000 pounds a day.

The high-intensity construction work lasted for a full twenty days before the two squirrel-cage cranes built on the hard ground came to an eye.

On the 25th day, the metal bearings between the two squirrel cages were connected. To erect the squirrel cage smoothly, Rurik simply used the wooden wall of Elonburg. The cable used the wooden wall as a stress point. Inside the wooden wall is the combined force of human and animal forces to pull the lying squirrel cage. Got up, and finally hung on the bracket it deserves.

On February 1st of the Julian calendar, this period is also the coldest period in Fort Elrond. Corresponding to the cold is the enthusiasm of the residents of Fort Elrond.

Just yesterday, Rurik issued an order: "We have been fighting for a whole month, and we have consumed 30,000 pounds of food. All our efforts are for these two cranes. Now is the most critical moment. , Let's finish installing the pulley block and cable!"

More than one hundred people completed the installation of the final parts at night, under the lighting of a large number of bonfires.

When the sun shines on the earth on a new day, just by the west gate of Fort Elon, two huge equipments stand in the ice and snow world with a strong punk texture, as if they came from another era.

The squirrel-cage crane seems to be successful. It only needs one successful loading and unloading, and it also proves its reliability.

On this day, the men, women and children who live in Elronburg came out, even with a group of people standing on the wooden wall and tower, hoping to have a good viewing spot to see this wonder.

They clearly built it with their own hands and witnessed it from wood to an unstoppable "monster".

Mezzasta was emotional, and he knew that the Steel Squirrel Department had really benefited from Rurik. For example, almost all Cowen men are madly eating wheat, their chests with clear ribs become rounded, and some people actually have belly fat. Even the women with the tribe, because they wholeheartedly deal with logistical problems, they get at least a pound of wheat every day, the mother naturally gives the children food, and the children of the tribe have also eaten fat. The above are all things that Buraku people had never dared to think about.

All efforts were made for the equipment in front of him, Metzasta yelled excitedly, and his people also talked and laughed endlessly with smiles.

Rurik didn't dare to relax, he solemnly ignored the laughter of the onlookers.

"Yevlo!"

"in!"

"According to our plan, start your performance!"

"Yes!" Excited Jeflo, he took three mercenary brothers, a total of four people, really like a mouse, got into the squirrel cage through the gap of the spokes.

Other mercenaries hook the pulleys to the ropes that bind the test pine trunks.

Seeing that Rurik was ready to act, he whispered silently, and even Metzasta, who wanted to talk to Rurik, shut up.

Everyone held their breath and heard Rurik's order, hundreds of pairs of eyes all focused on the squirrel cage that started to rotate slowly.

Suddenly, there was a creaking sound, and the uncoordinated sound came from the hard-contact bearing. It is not only a direct metal hard-to-hard contact, the bearing is also not a true cylinder. It is a kind of improvised lifting equipment, but its effectiveness cannot be denied.

There are mercenaries who have been responsible for controlling the ratchet latches on the outside of the squirrel cage to ensure that the heavy objects will not fall down when they are pulled up.

The wheels of the pulley block are made of fir, with metal bearings embedded in the middle. The pulley block is slowly rising with the wood. It is being lifted all the time, and finally it is lifted to the lifting limit of the crane, which is three stikas, about three meters.

Although this pine tree is not as extreme as the giant fir, anyone with a discerning eye knows that this thing cannot be carried by three or four strong men. As a result, the two people in the squirrel cage were clearly walking around at will They did walk for a while, the extremely heavy pine wood was not only lifted up, but everyone had to hold their heads up and squinted to look at the top. Wood. Many people subconsciously think that if they stand at the bottom and be smashed by it, their heads will not bloom.

"Master, haha! It looks like we are a big success!" Yevlo in the squirrel cage exclaimed excitedly.

Rurik was also very happy. He also squinted his eyes, especially looking at the pulley block on the top of the boom and the condition of the wear-resistant iron sheet wrapped on the wood.

"Jevlo! There is one final test now. Listen to my order and prepare to change the tenon! Jevlo, you turn around and prepare to move in the opposite direction!"

The locking system is operated in the reverse direction. The squirrel cage and the locking can cooperate to form a substantial large ratchet. The two pawls and tenons are operated alternately, so that the crane has a controllable release cable function, so that even the lifting materials are unloaded. Controllable and stable.

Corvin and Ross, what they saw was that the two of them had finished moving the heavy objects. Can cranes create greater miracles?

of course can!

Finally, a whole month of struggle will be the final understanding today! February 2nd in the Julian calendar!