Chapter 1686 - 1592: On the Right Track of Industrialization

Chapter 1686: Chapter 1592: On the Right Track of Industrialization

Joseph perked up immediately upon hearing "precision machining": "Then I definitely have to go and see it. Where is it located?"

"In the workshop of the Engineering Design Institute." Louis XVI pointed outside the window, a hint of melancholy appearing in his eyes again, as he sighed and said, "Do you know? The workpieces processed by that machine in just a few minutes are as good as the results I achieve after a week’s careful polishing.

"Perhaps it won’t be long before various machines can accomplish everything I know how to do."

Joseph took the coat from Alexandra’s hands, smiled, and pointed to his head: "Your greatest advantage is knowledge, experience, and wisdom, which no machine can ever replace.

"In other words, even with the most precise machines, you can always find ways to improve them.

"Moreover, many yet-to-appear machines will need a master like you to create them."

Louis XVI was taken aback for a moment, then a smile quickly returned to his face: "You’re right, excellent machines won’t just emerge on their own. In fact, I have some new thoughts on the main drive gear of the Sky Axis."

Joseph watched as his old father smiled like a 48-year-old child, feeling a sudden sense of relief in his heart.

Parents with fulfilling lives, a happy Alexandra, and a carefree Michel—isn’t this the life he has longed for the most?

This is the best reward for his years of hard work.

Louis XVI gave Michel a few more kisses, returned the child to The Crown Princess, and then took the still pondering Joseph towards the France Engineering Design Institute.

The cable traction car that previously ran between the Palace of Versailles and the Engineering Design Institute had long been replaced by a standard steam railway car—a sign that many scholars and technicians who had made significant contributions were granted the qualification to reside at the Palace of Versailles permanently.

So, Joseph saw the endless range of buildings in just ten minutes.

Yes, since its inception, the Engineering Design Institute has undergone three expansions, and the combined area of numerous design studios, workshops, and warehouses is almost comparable to the Palace of Versailles.

Moreover, the construction here didn’t consume much government investment. Major companies in France often donated funds to ensure that the projects they care about would advance more quickly—implementing cutting-edge technology can yield profits far exceeding those from routine operations.

Thanks to His Majesty the King’s influence, it has become a cluster of engineering and technology design and laboratories here.

In just the past year, the Engineering Design Institute contributed 12% of the nation’s registered patents, surpassing the 10% of the national laboratories under the French Academy of Sciences.

Although more than 20 court guards stood in front of the gate of the Engineering Design Institute, no one specifically came out to welcome Louis XVI and his son.

The people at the design institute were already accustomed to His Majesty the King’s presence, and the omnipresent court guards were seen as a symbol of the institute’s importance.

The steam railway car moved another two kilometers along the institute’s internal line and stopped in front of a not too large brick-red workshop.

Soon, Whitney pointed at the giant steel shaft over ten meters long at the top of the workshop, introducing it to the Regent: "Your Highness, this is the ’Sky Axis.’

"Look over there, it’s an LJ52B type steam engine, driving the Sky Axis through a series of pulleys and gears."

"LJ52?" Joseph looked at his father with some surprise, "You said this equipment is used for precision machining?"

Fine machining doesn’t require the massive power of 52 horsepower, typically around a dozen horsepower is sufficient. And the larger the power of the steam engine, the more difficult it is to control the speed, and the greater the vibration, all of which are extremely unfavorable for precision machining.

Whitney quickly responded: "It is indeed used for precision machining, Your Highness. In fact, during our previous trial samples, we were already able to stably achieve an accuracy of 0.05 millimeters. Look, over there is the boring machine and the milling machine."

Joseph was even more astonished.

He remembered Whitney’s previous high-precision milling machine could only achieve a stable accuracy of 0.2 millimeters, yet this group of "lunatics" actually improved the accuracy with a machine over 50 horsepower by another quantum level!

Bear in mind, even the most advanced technology from England, besides France, has just touched the edge of 0.3 millimeters, and that’s even using France-made alloy steel tools [Note 1].

"How did you manage it?"

Whitney indicated the metal "disk" rotating at high speed at the rear of the Sky Axis: "Because the size of the Sky Axis is large, we can use a larger flywheel to eliminate the torque oscillations of the steam engine.

"The Sky Axis is directly connected to the steam engine through pulleys and gears, with constant rotation speed. This means the steam engine doesn’t need speed regulation, making the operation more stable.

"Meanwhile, most of the vibrations produced by the steam engine do not transmit to the Sky Axis."

He then pointed to a boring machine at the lower side of the Sky Axis: "There, the pulley transfers the rotation of the Sky Axis to the stepped speed change mechanism.

"The speed change mechanism reduces the rotation speed through a set of gears, and then drives the boring machine. By this time, the power of the boring machine becomes extremely stable.

"During the use of the boring machine, technicians can cut off the conventional gears meshed with the Sky Axis, thus stopping the machine, and then utilize the tower wheel to change the gear combination, achieving the purpose of adjusting the speed.

"The entire speed adjustment process takes only a dozen seconds!"

Keep in mind, previously, if you wanted to adjust the speed of processing machinery, you could only operate the steam engine’s throttle valve, which was very slow to respond and difficult to accurately reach the desired speed.

The precision of the rotation speed directly affects the precision of the machining process.

Joseph looked at those tightly meshed gears and suddenly smiled.

Finally, France’s cutting-edge technology no longer relies solely on him to drive it, and can independently iterate and advance.

This marks that France’s industrialization is on the right track and will increasingly leave other countries behind!

After all, the power of one person is far less than that of all the experts in France.

However, Joseph immediately frowned at those exposed and fast-rotating gears, and said to Whitney: "Perhaps you can concentrate the gears further, installing them in a cast iron casing and covering them.

"Then pour a certain amount of lubricating oil into the iron box, letting the gears at the bottom immerse in the oil. When the gears rotate, they will splash the oil onto parts within the box that need lubrication.

"This way, all gears can be lubricated at any time. The flow of lubricant can also carry away the heat generated by friction and the debris produced by the gears."

Whitney and the others were immediately wide-eyed, even if they didn’t perform detailed calculations, they could imagine that the Regent’s proposed improvement could significantly enhance the smoothness, stability, and lifespan of the gear assembly.

[Note 1] Many sources say Whitney’s lathe achieved a machining accuracy of one-thousandth of an inch (about 0.025 millimeters), but this can only be done when processing standard threads. If processing complex-shaped workpieces, the tolerance is in the 0.4-millimeter range.