Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1261: Chapter 1166: Industrial Feast

Widirina was stunned for a full half-minute before suddenly nodding and saying, “This is indeed a good idea. No, it’s simply a genius conception!”

He then immediately took out a pen, scribbled and calculated for a while, and then turned the verification paper towards Joseph, looking very excited: “That’s right, the structural strength of the mold can fully support it, and as long as the cold water keeps circulating in the pipe, the inner layer of the cannon barrel won’t exceed 400 degrees Celsius, and it will quickly drop to 100 degrees.”

His gaze at Joseph was completely different now.

He used to always hear people say that the “Son of Divine Favor” had many astonishing inventions, but he always thought it was just others announcing them in the name of the Crown Prince.

But this casting plan today, he had never heard anyone mention it before, it was obviously thought up by the Crown Prince himself.

It’s simply incredible, although it’s just a small technique, it’s absolutely full of creativity and easily solves a big problem!

Joseph silently thought to himself, “Thank you, Mr. Rodman,” and then lightly coughed: “Ahem, as long as you think it’s effective, that’s good.

“Oh, don’t apply for a patent for this technology, it should be limited to you and the breech-loading cannon project team internally. Be sure to keep it confidential. Of course, the specific technical details still need you to refine them.”

Speaking of which, it’s simply about circulating water in the middle of the mold, but he knew that the specific operation must not be that simple. The material for the water pipe, diameter, and the appropriate flow rate all needed to be repeatedly tested to determine.

As for the patent aspect, the core technique of the Rodman casting method is too simple, it’s easy for other countries to copy, so it’s better not to submit it to the patent office. Anyway, this technology is basically only useful in cannon casting.

Cano, looking at Widirina’s calculation process, suddenly thought of something: “Your Highness, we can completely use this technology to manufacture traditional cannons.

“Using only steel for cannon casting will be over 70% cheaper than using bronze.

“And it can allow craftsmen to become familiar with the casting technology in advance, facilitating the casting of more complex breech-loading cannons in the future.”

Joseph’s eyes also lit up.

That’s right, if we stop using bronze to cast cannons, it can save France a lot of copper.

And France is a country poor in copper, importing large quantities of copper from Spain and Eastern Europe every year.

You know, the navy has always been eagerly hoping to be like the British, wrapping the bottom of the warships with brass to avoid damage from shipworms and barnacles—these marine organisms attach to the wood of the hull, which in severe cases can reduce the ship’s speed by more than 15%. And, shipworms chew on the planks, leading to major overhauls within just a few years.

Previously, the French Navy couldn’t bear to use its scarce copper on the ship’s bottom, now the copper saved on cannons can finally let them “splurge” a bit.

Joseph immediately instructed Cano: “Your suggestion is very good, so let’s add one or two casting experts to the project team, to study the technology of iron cannons together with Mr. Widirina. Once the technology matures, separate them to be specifically responsible for casting muzzle-loading cannons.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Joseph suddenly remembered the Minie ball: “By the way, I also need a technician proficient in firearms design, preferably familiar with mold processing, do you have any suitable candidates to recommend?”

“Mr. Sur,” Cano immediately replied, “He once designed the firing mechanism of the Charleville 1777 model, including the molds. Recently, he doesn’t have anything else on hand.”

Joseph nodded: “Very well, please have him come see me as soon as possible.”

As for this technician, he didn’t have particularly high expectations since it’s just designing the exterior of the bullet, and he could sketch the general outline for him.

The design meeting for the breech-loading cannon continued until three in the afternoon, after Joseph finished the part on design ideas, he basically had nothing to do with it.

When he returned to the Palace of Versailles shortly after, he saw Eman bringing an old man with small eyes and half-gray hair knocking on the door to enter.

“Your Highness, this is Mr. Arno George Sur,” Eman bowed and said.

The old man quickly placed his hand over his chest in salute: “Honorable Crown Prince, Mr. Cano said you need me to do something.”

Joseph smiled and nodded, gestured for him to sit, then asked Kesode to bring a Model 1790 rifle, as well as a bullet, and said to Sur: “I need you to design a new bullet that can be easily loaded into a rifled gun, and can be fired without hitting the iron spike at the chamber bottom.

“Oh, and you’ll also need to design a set of steel molds for casting the bullets.”

Sur thought for a moment and respectfully said: “Your Highness, I don’t know what kind of bullet you’re looking for, but forgive my directness, casting lead for bullet production might not be feasible. As you know, casting will produce adhesion and many burrs, which still need to be manually polished by craftsmen before use, not much faster than completely manual production.”

Joseph made a pressing gesture with his hand: “We are going to design a steel plate with runoff grooves between it and the mold, then compress the mold to squeeze out all excess lead. This way, after cooling and demolding, over 95% of the bullet will be complete, requiring only minimal hand-finishing.”

Sur was taken aback for a moment and hurriedly said: “Your Highness, this requires significant pressure, and the pressure must be very even.”

Joseph nodded: “That’s why we’ll use a steam press.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“It’s in His Majesty the King’s experimental workshop. You only need the 0.4-ton version to use.”

Sur felt like he suddenly entered a whole new world.

…

Half a month later.

The Nancy Industrial Development Zone.

Outside the primary experimental workshop of the French United Steam Engine Company, Murdock waved his hand with a dark expression: “Honorable Mr. Cano, you really can’t use the milling machine these days.”

He gestured to the senior assistant at the Royal Workshop in the distance: “Mr. Emmerich needs to use it for 3 hours every day. Mr. Sur has orders signed personally by the Crown Prince, so he needs at least 1.5 hours.

“This has severely taken up our experimental time. If you…”

Cano smiled apologetically and said: “You see, I am also executing the design task given by the Crown Prince.”

Murdock sighed, “God, have mercy, you haven’t even finished the drawings yet.”

“That’s why I need to process some parts to help us complete the design.” Cano took something out from a cloth bag he carried, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and quietly slipped it into Murdock’s hands, “One hour every two days.”

The latter looked down to see it was a bottle of Margaux Manor’s “Bordeaux Queen” wine, and his eyes immediately lit up: “Uh…one hour every three days, it really can’t be any more.”

This wine sells at 120 francs a bottle, and it’s quite hard to find.

Cano went all out just to use the high-precision milling machine for a bit.

The workshops of the United Steam Engine Company have been very lively lately, with top technicians in cannon manufacture, revolvers, steam forging machines, and high-pressure steam engines gathering here, as if participating in a feast of the French Industrial Revolution.