Chapter 223： printing house two

The workshop owner approached with a smile.

"Master, the two ladies, is there anything I can do for you?"

"You can accompany the two of them to take a good look around this workshop and introduce the printing process."

"Yes."

The factory director nodded, and he said to Irene and Ladi, "He is the director in charge of this workshop, just ask him if you have any questions. I still have work to do, so I won't accompany you for now", then turned around gone.

Irene curled her lips towards the back of the factory manager leaving, and Ladi held her hand, turned to the workshop director and said, "Then I will trouble you, Mr. Director. Betty and I are really interested in this place."

The director smiled awkwardly: "If it's somewhere, please follow me."

The three came to the nearest printing machine, and the director pointed to the machine and explained the structure and working principle of the printing machine to Irene and Ladi in detail.

It happened that a worker was operating the machine, and the two women watched the complete printing process.

The printers work in teams of two, and take turns to operate the plates in and out, and to pull the printing machine. This work is relatively labor-intensive, and evenly applying ink to the paper requires high technical requirements.

A worker uses a handle shovel to apply ink to the protruding printing plate, carefully wipes it with an ink roller, then takes the ink pad from the rack, pats it on the ink, and then rubs it in a circular motion on the plate to let the ink Spread evenly over surface.

Next, ink each page of the printing plate in turn, and wipe the ink pad from time to time to adjust the distribution of ink.

At the same time, another worker places a page of paper on the printing position fixed on the platen, then closes the upper paper clamping frame, and then lowers the platen, paper and paper clamping frame to the plane of the ink movable type with the right hand; Hold the handle of the printing machine tightly with your right hand, turn it so that it drives the front half of the plate under the platen, pull down the handle of the printing machine with your right hand, move the second half of the plate under the platen, pull it again, and then release the handle Make it spring back; lift up the platen, move the platen out, and remove the platen unit.

"Wow! So easy! This printing press is so useful!"

Irene clapped her hands happily, and the sound like a silver bell made everyone look at her again. Of course, they didn't agree with her words in their hearts: "Easy? This little girl said it too easily. Try to print 200 single pages in an hour? Guaranteed to make you cry."

The workshop director smiled and introduced: "After a page is arranged, we will print all the planned amount of paper on one side, then print on the reverse side of the paper, hang them up to dry, and finally bind them and store them in the warehouse. Used The printing plates should be washed with lye and handed over to typesetting workers to disassemble them into movable type.”

"Is this movable type?"

Lady Setia walked to Sam, the typesetter, and looked at the metal type on the table. These small things were smaller than the nail cap of her little finger.

"That's right, consultant Setia, these are movable type. Don't look at them as small, it's really not easy to make."

The workshop director introduced it in a showing off tone.

"First have the letter engraver draw the letters on the end of the metal blank, then carve or file off the unwanted metal, and then harden the male molds and stamp them into brass or bronze to make blank female molds, the width of which To vary with letter size."

"The next step is to file off all the raised metal parts on the printing surface, and adjust the size of the negative mold so that the type can be accurately inserted into the proper position at the bottom of the impression mold, and then hand over the negative mold to the caster, who must ensure that it is melted when casting the movable type The liquid metal is literally everywhere, which will test their skills."

The two women exclaimed, "It's so complicated!"

"So, how many sheets 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 difficult to apply ink evenly. Now, the speed will drop."

"Our workshop can print 3,000 pages a day, double-sided."

The director patted his chest and said proudly: "Other workshops are not as fast as ours, and the quality is not as good as ours."

Irene opened her mouth slightly, and said in amazement: "This speed... is indeed much faster than copying books."

Ladi 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, Jiaowan.

"This kind of book is still printed here?"

"Oh, you said that book! It was a batch of books from Jiaowan sent by the lord. We were asked to print them, but we didn't know the Jiaowan language on them. Casting movable type and typesetting really took a lot of effort. It’s so strong. It is said that the lord is going to sell them back to Jiaowan. I heard the factory manager say that this is “Wet Pole” written by some poet in Jiaowan. Let me tell you, these Jiaowan people are full. If you have nothing to do, just write something that makes you feel sick.”

Ladi listened to a black line, the workshop director didn't know that the female consultant in front of him was from Jiaowan, and she was still expressing her opinion endlessly: "Forget itThe gang of rich guys who sold it back to Kengkeng are the same. It's a great business, I heard everyone there is very rich... Whoops!"

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..."

Looking at her delicate face, the director couldn't get angry, waved his hands and said, "Haha, it's all right."

…

Irene and Ladi visited the factory for half a day, and they didn't leave the samples to be printed until it was almost noon to leave and return.

They chatted as they walked, exchanging their views on what they had just seen.

"Betty, I think this printing press is a more remarkable thing than those guns and cannons."

"I feel the same way. If only a few more printing presses are made, books will be so cheap that even ordinary people can afford them."

"Isn't the "Literacy Book" and "Basic Hygiene Manual" we just sent out aimed at civilians? Although the above things are very simple, they are the keys to unlock the door of knowledge. Haha, you, the director of the Education Department, can show your skills. "

"Well, after seeing the printing press, I am indeed more and more confident. Speaking of the Department of Education, if you were there at that time, I guess that idiot would have appointed you as the supervisor."

"Don't say that, it is appropriate for you to take up this position, let those men take a good look at our women's abilities."

Irene clenched her small fist: "I will definitely work hard."

She suddenly let go, as if thinking of something, she said in a daze, "However, will the status of 'scholar' become less and less valuable?"

Ladi's face darkened, and she smiled sweetly: "Isn't it what we like to see more people gain knowledge?"

"That's right!"

Seeing the other party being so open-minded, Irene was also relieved.