Chapter 4 - 04 Industrial Machinery
Shortly before Emmanuel's visit, Steve was at Nick's workshop. In his hands were machines he had never seen before.
The machines were two: a bench-top fixed grinder and a bench lathe. They were machine tools created with Steve's [Industrial Machinery: Lv1] magic. Both were hand-cranked, powered by human strength.
"Wakasama, what are these?"
Nick was bewildered by the machines he was seeing for the first time.
"First, let me say that I've consulted with my father, and I intend to let you in on our territory's secrets, Nick. However, you must not speak of this to anyone else."
"I don't mind that, but does it have to be me?"
"Of course. You're the only blacksmith in our territory. I'm counting on you."
"If Wakasama puts it like that, I've got no choice but to live up to those expectations. Besides, I've already promised once before not to leak any secrets."
"That's true."
Having secured Nick's promise, Steve began explaining the machines to him.
"These are machine tools I made with my magic. This one is a grinder. It has a whetstone attached, and when you turn this handle, the whetstone rotates with it. It's convenient for sharpening blades. However, since one hand is occupied, it's difficult for one person. Maybe I should attach a pedal to make it foot-powered. Or hire someone else. And this one here is a lathe. This is also hand-cranked, so it might be hard for one person. A lathe rotates the material."
Nick observed the machines placed on the workbench with great interest. Then, he tried turning the handle.
"I understand this grinder thing. I can see the whetstone rotating, so I get it. But this lathe thing, I just can't imagine..."
Nick, having never seen a lathe, could not imagine how to use it. It wasn't just Nick. No one in this country—no, in this world—had ever seen a lathe. On Earth, it seems there were bow lathes around 740 BC, but they did not exist in this world. Naturally, the word 'lathe' did not exist either.
As a side note, the word 'lathe' is defined in the JIS terms regarding machine tool names. While bench lathes are included, bow lathes are not defined by JIS. If a company were using one, they would be using a machine tool not regulated by Japanese Industrial Standards.
As a further side note, the Japanese for JIS Standards is Nihon Sangyou Kikaku (Japanese Industrial Standards). On July 1, 2019, the Industrial Standardization Act changed to the Industrial Standardization Act (T/N: The Japanese term changed from 'Kougyou' to 'Sangyou'), and the name of the standards also became Japanese Industrial Standards. Since the English notation remained unchanged, the confusion is just part of the charm.
Steve found a piece of wood intended for a sickle handle and picked it up. He had come here because there was seasoned wood available.
He secured the lathe to the workbench and chucked the wood, which had been processed to be somewhat round, into the lathe. It lacked a hydraulic system, but it was a machine tool made by magic. By some unknown logic, it gripped the wood firmly.
When he turned the handle, a large gear connected to the handle rotated, which in turn rotated the spindle gear. Naturally, the wood rotated along with the spindle.
When he applied an external thread cutting tool from the side, a groove appeared in the wood before their eyes, eventually becoming a screw thread.
Steve removed the processed wood from the lathe and handed it to Nick.
"Well, this is how you can make screws or adjust the outer diameter. Our territory isn't suited for agriculture, so I want to create some kind of industry. It's not for right away, but I want you to get used to handling industrial machinery."
"Ooooh, now this is something worth doing! Even when I was apprenticing at the master's place, I never saw a machine like this."
Excited, Nick took turns touching the threaded wood and the lathe.
Screws were used in screw presses, which were machines used for squeezing oil from grapes or plants. However, those were hand-processed by craftsmen using files. In Japan, screws for matchlock guns were also made by hand, but as long as there are no lathes, hand-processing is the only way.
Hand-processed screws make it very difficult to match the threads of the male and female parts, requiring great skill, and the same item can never be made twice. If they can be machined, they can be shipped as individual parts. They could respond to orders for just male screws or just female screws. Steve believed this would be sufficiently competitive.
Furthermore, if that technology were applied, they could even do letterpress printing. However, since the literacy rate was low, there wasn't much demand for text.
Naturally, Steve could handle these things based on his experience from his previous life, but when considering it as an industry, it was desirable to have other personnel who could operate machine tools.
At the moment, since machining oil was unavailable, they were limited to processing wood at most, but he had his sights set on metalworking in the future.
After stroking the machines all over and cooling down from his excitement, Nick remembered Steve was there.
"Wakasama, I understand this has incredible potential, but it's not something that'll turn into gold immediately."
"That's true. That's why I brought another idea that seems like it could be commercialized right away."
Saying so, Steve created steel with magic. Plates of various sizes with thin notches and stoppers, a square plate with double grooves carved into it, and a plate with grid-like protrusions. Also, a basket that came as a set with a tray.
"What's all this?"
"I'm thinking of selling a game. It's called Reversi. These are the jigs for it."
"Jigs?"
Jig is a general term for tools used to indicate or guide the working position of parts or tools during processing or assembly. The Japanese word 'Jigu' is a phonetic kanji assignment for the English word 'jig'. Occasionally one sees the notation '冶具', but this is an error. (T/N: The correct kanji is 治具).
Steve placed a wooden board from the workshop onto the large plate with notches and stoppers. He pushed the edge against the stopper. Then, taking a saw in hand, he put the blade into a notch and began cutting.
"See, if you push it against the stopper and put the saw teeth in the notch like this, you can cut it perfectly straight. If you repeat this four times, you get a perfect square board."
"I see."
Once the board was cut, he picked up the plate with grid-like protrusions. This one had a long handle.
"This is a branding iron. I'll use this to put the grid lines on the game board we just cut."
Since it needed to be heated by a fire, he just explained it and had Nick start a fire.
While waiting for the branding iron to heat up, he started cutting round wooden rods with a smaller jig. The usage was the same as the large jig—push it against the stopper and cut by putting the saw teeth in the groove. This was to make the Reversi pieces. Though called 'stones,' they were made of wood.
Once sixty-four pieces were made, he then put water and mud into the tray and stirred. This was to color half of the pieces.
"I'd actually prefer black or something, but today we're just making a prototype."
The tray had a groove to check the height, and once the muddy water reached that point, Steve put the pieces into the basket. He covered them with a weighted plate from above. This was because the wood would float otherwise. By placing the basket into the tray, half of the pieces were dyed by the muddy water.
Once that process was finished, he pressed the heated branding iron onto the game board.
With clean charred lines, the game board was complete.
"And it's done."
"What kind of game is it?"
"Since we're here, shall we try playing?"
Steve explained the rules and started the game. Since the rules themselves were simple, Nick learned them immediately.
"And that's my win."
"It's my first time, so of course I can't win."
"It's my first time too, though."
Since it was a world where Reversi didn't exist, this was natural.
"Wait, but for a first time, you sure came up with something like this well."
"It was born from the desire to do something for the people of the territory," Steve gave a random excuse.
"It might be good for a break, but as far as fun goes, it feels a bit lacking," Nick flew in with his candid opinion.
"Yes, right now there's not much excitement whether you win or lose, but for example, what if you bet money on this match? And then add alcohol to the mix?"
Steve made a gesture of drinking alcohol.
"Ah—that would certainly get lively. But Wakasama, you've surely never drunk alcohol, yet you understand that feeling well. Between coming up with Reversi and understanding a drinker's heart, it's nothing but mysterious things with you."
"It's not as mysterious as magic, is it?"
"I suppose that's true."
Nick was convinced by Steve's excuse.
"So, what should I do? With all these tools ready, there's no turn for me, is there?"
"Not quite. I can't tell the people about magic, so I want you to act as if you made these tools, Nick. And since we'll have to make new ones when they break, I want you to become able to make them."
As an excuse for the people, he wanted it to be that Nick made these jigs. For that, it would be best if Nick actually became able to make them. Steve made that request.
Nick stared seriously at the jigs, thinking about what he could and couldn't do with his own skill. Then he gave his own answer.
"Understood. Well, I'll manage everything except the basket. But just this basket is impossible."
Nick shook his head while touching the basket made of wire mesh. Steve only then realized it was over-technology.
"Can the basket be substituted with plant vines or something?"
"Well, that should work. But for something like this, couldn't I just say I'll make it later and have Wakasama make a new one? If we prepare spares from the start, it won't be an emergency."
Nick's suggestion was reasonable, so Steve decided to prepare spares for the baskets. Thus, production preparations were complete.
"So, are you saying we should start making these now?"
"No, we'll make about ten prototypes and have Emmanuel sell them. The target is taverns. Like I said earlier, I think it'll get lively if alcohol is involved and money is bet. If the customers' reaction is good, we'll get additional orders, so I'll start full-scale production then."
"Ah, but for something of this level, couldn't the workshops in town make it too?"
"We'll cover that with labor costs and production efficiency."
"Labor costs? Production efficiency?"
Nick was perplexed by the unfamiliar terms. So Steve explained those words to him.
"Labor cost is the expense of hiring people. Basically, living in town costs more than living in our territory. Therefore, the craftsmen in town are in trouble if they can't sell things they made at a high price to make a living. In a big city, it's one silver coin a month. However, in our territory, currency doesn't circulate in the first place. Everyone can live even without money. That's why we can make the selling price cheap."
"That's certainly true."
Nick, who had been in a town workshop during his apprenticeship, could understand that. In town, money is needed to buy anything. However, in the Archibalt territory, there are no shops, so money isn't necessary. The only ones who buy things from Emmanuel when he occasionally comes as a peddler are the Lord and Nick.
Since there is no concept of a minimum wage or laws, labor can be bought cheaply. However, that is only for now. Once the territory develops and a monetary economy enters, the people will likely try to earn money, and it's clear that prices will rise.
"Next is production efficiency. Are the jigs I prepared today found in town workshops?"
"No, they probably aren't. Woodworking craftsmen would try to make things without jigs. They'd probably use layout markings for processing. Even if they wanted to request a jig from a metalworking workshop, using iron would make it expensive. Besides, there are probably almost no craftsmen with experience making jigs like these, so the technical fee would be quite something."
"Exactly. In that case, we can make them faster than a veteran craftsman, so we can make the selling price cheaper too."
"Indeed."
Nick nodded.
Steve also thought about the advantage in quality, but since explaining the concept of quality seemed difficult, he didn't voice it.
Thus, ten prototypes were made and handed over to Emmanuel.
*
Emmanuel, who received the Reversi from Steve, was briefed on the rules and tried playing against Steve himself.
"I see, I see. If you take a corner, it can never be flipped by the opponent. It is simple, but for that reason, it's no problem even if alcohol is involved. Since the time for one match is short, the turnover seems good too. However, if it becomes popular, imitations will surely circulate."
"That's within expectations. For our territory, which has no industry whatsoever, I don't mind even if it becomes a price war."
Steve answered Emmanuel. Emmanuel was convinced, thinking that was true.
And separately from Reversi, Steve made a request to Emmanuel.
"Please also obtain beans and potatoes. There must be other lean lands, so I want to obtain seeds and seedlings of plants cultivated in such places."
"Understood. I will deduct the payment from the steel sales, if that's alright."
Brian and Steve nodded at Emmanuel's proposal. Since they had no agricultural experience, it was best to introduce things that had successfully been cultivated in other lands. Besides, they didn't have the leeway to fail, so it became the method with the highest certainty.
In the end, Reversi sold reasonably well. It could be placed on tavern tables, had simple rules, and quick conclusions. Above all, the low introduction cost was the deciding factor.
Processes were assigned to each household, unit prices for each process were decided, and production began. Since the process of dyeing the stones was difficult to manage, a design change was made to fix steel caps with nails. What made that possible was the lathe.
Processing with small variations by the lathe made Steve's production of caps possible. The dimensions of the caps were uniform because they were magic. There, Steve set tolerances for the wood Nick processed. If it was within tolerance, the gap between the cap and the stone was small, and there were no issues with them not fitting together.
The efficiency was on a different level compared to other workshops that produced items by manual fitting. The idea of tolerances was born so that armies could procure the same parts at expedition sites.
Here too, Steve and Nick created parts in separate locations, and the residents assembled them using nails. The concept of tolerance is what made that possible.
And, as expected, workshops that imitated Reversi appeared, but they withdrew after being unable to compete in production costs.