Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 2

Channing rolled the steel plate with the bending machine, and the Factory Manager took it and welded it. Every time he welded the rolled steel plate with the electric welder, an incredibly bright light sparked and flew up.

The Factory Manager, who was welding with a mask on, shouted at Channing, who was staring blankly.

“Idiot! You’ll hurt your eyes! Don’t be distracted! You’ll get hurt!”

“Ah! Yes!”

Channing quickly turned his head back at the Factory Manager’s roar.

After spot welding the ends of the joined steel plates, he repeatedly filled the remaining gaps using a welding rod.

“Damn it! This is annoying. That Kruter guy! Why did he order so many barrels! I should have dumped it on Popper!”

“But Mr. Kruter came here after visiting Mr. Popper’s place.”

“Damn that Popper! He dumped it on me because it was annoying for him too! Hey! Channing! You weld after you’re done bending.”

The Factory Manager shouted as he took off his mask and welder, and Channing looked at him with a bright smile.

“Really? I can do it?”

“I taught you last time. You’ll get in trouble if you make a mistake.”

“Don’t worry! I’m done bending!”

Channing smiled brightly and started rolling the remaining steel plates with the bending machine. The Factory Manager took out another cigarette and lit it.

******

Channing squatted down and started welding.

He was still awkward, so he couldn’t match the Factory Manager’s speed. However, the Factory Manager could feel his enthusiasm.

The last time he taught Channing how to weld, he was so bad that he scolded him a lot, but the Factory Manager could see that his skills had improved a lot.

The Factory Manager remembered Channing kneeling and asking if he could practice welding after work. He wasn’t that annoyed by the persistent guy, so he threw him a bundle of welding rods.

“Factory Manager-nim! Will this do?”

Channing asked, holding up a finished welded ring (Ring, 고리), and the Factory Manager, with a cigarette in his mouth, examined the weld.

The weld was good enough to use, so he was pleased, but the Factory Manager put on a serious expression and opened his mouth.

“It’s better than last time. But you’re too slow! If you’re slow, the weld will be excessive, making post-processing difficult.”

“I understand!”

Channing smiled and squatted down again, picking up another ring and starting to weld.

The Factory Manager walked to the side and picked up the welded ring, clamping it in a vise (Vise, 공작물을 끼워 고정하는 기구). He was going to grind the weld.

He thought Kruter, the barrel maker, would be happy with it even if he sent it roughly finished, but the Factory Manager’s pride wouldn’t allow it.

The Factory Manager took out a hand grinder (Hand Grinder, 손잡이 연삭기) and started grinding the weld of the ring.

“… … one… here?”

Meanwhile, someone’s voice could be heard.

It wasn’t a very loud voice, so it didn’t reach the ears of the Factory Manager or Channing.

“Is anyone there?!”

A slightly louder voice was heard, and only then did the Factory Manager turn off the grinder.

“Who’s there?”

The Factory Manager looked towards the entrance.

A fairly young man was standing there. He was wearing a cloak and a long, patterned cloth garment, a surcoat.

“I… I want to have a sword made…”

“A sword? If it’s a sword, go see Popper over there.”

“Th… there… it’s too expensive…”

The young man stammered. The Factory Manager immediately realized he was a young knight without much money.

“Damn. We don’t deal with swords here.”

“Th… the lady at the Red Rooster said the kitchen knife made here is the best and that you would make a good sword too… Is there any way?”

Seeing the knight blushing as he spoke, the Factory Manager felt a little sorry for him.

Seeing the young man who had just become a knight and couldn’t afford a decent sword, he was reminded of himself when he had come up to Seoul with nothing, stealing a bus ride.

The Factory Manager took out a cigarette, lit it, exhaled the smoke, and looked at the young man.

“Alright. I’ll make you one. But I’ve never made a sword before, what does it look like?”

“Ah! Thank you! Then, if you could make it similar to this, it would be great. It’s a sword I borrowed from a senior.”

The young man quickly drew the sword from his waist and handed it over.

“Ah… so this is the shape… Alright. Come back tomorrow.”

“To… tomorrow?! Can you make it that fast?”

“I hate wasting time.”

“I understand. The… the price…”

The young man pulled out a pouch from his waist.

“How much are you willing to pay?”

“I… I have one gold coin and 20 silver coins. Will that be enough?”

At those words, the Factory Manager frowned, and the young man immediately lowered his head.

“I’m sorry. That was a ridiculous price, wasn’t it? I apologize for wasting your time.”

“No. That’s fine, just give me one gold coin.”

“What?! Is that all it takes?”

“Hurry up before I change my mind.”

The young man quickly handed over the gold coin, and the Factory Manager put it in his pocket.

“Then come back tomorrow at this time.”

The Factory Manager went inside with the longsword, and the young knight ran outside with a bright smile.

“Are you going to make a sword?”

“The young man needs a sword to use after coming up to the capital, so I have to make one for him. He can buy a better one later when he earns money. Popper’s stuff is expensive. He’s unnecessarily obsessed with craftsmanship.”

The Factory Manager answered Channing’s question and started rummaging through the pile of scrap metal.

“Here it is. I picked one up from the junkyard before. I brought it back then and straightened it out.”

The item the Factory Manager pulled out was a leaf spring.

It was a shock absorber that went under trucks and cars, and it was thick and resilient enough to be used for making farming tools.

“What is that?”

“Leaf spring (板spring, 판 모양의 용수철). It’s resilient and strong steel. They say that making sickles or kitchen knives with this makes good quality products. I’m going to make it with this.”

“Wow… There was such a thing.”

“You just focus on your welding. Then grind the weld with the grinder. Don’t forget you have to finish that by tomorrow, right?”

The Factory Manager brought a large sheet of paper (全紙), placed the longsword on it, and started sketching with a pencil and ruler.

“This longsword is a strangely shaped thing. I understand roughly how to make it, though.”

“Factory Manager-nim, you’re an expert. A guy like me wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“You’re a newbie. I’ve been working with metal for how many years!”

“I know, I know. You came up here penniless at 15 and learned by getting hit. Ugh. You always say the same thing.”

The Factory Manager yelled and continued drawing the shape of the longsword on the paper.

After measuring the dimensions with a vernier caliper (Vernier Calliper, 아들자가 달린 측경기) and drawing the shape of the longsword blade on graph paper using a T-ruler (‘T’모양의 자), the Factory Manager cut the paper along the shape with scissors and carefully glued it onto the leaf spring.

Then, when he sprayed black lacquer (Lacquer, 광택제) spray on the longsword-shaped paper, the shape of the longsword was drawn directly onto the leaf spring.

“I’m done welding.”

“Already? Did you do a sloppy job? Because you wanted to watch?”

The Factory Manager asked in surprise, and Channing scratched his head.

“Haha… That’s part of it. But I did it carefully. I’ll do the grinding later. Can I watch?”

“Damn. If it comes back as defective, you’ll deal with it! Come and watch then!”

Channing smiled brightly and ran to the table, and the Factory Manager grumbled as he clamped the leaf spring with the longsword shape marked on it in the vise.

“I’m going to cut this.”

“With the grinder?”

“I would have if it was small. This is too big, so I’ll use the plasma cutter.”

The Factory Manager dragged the plasma cutting machine that was standing in the corner and connected the wires.

“Wear your safety goggles. You’ll hurt your eyes.”

At the Factory Manager’s words, Channing quickly pulled down the safety goggles he had placed on top of his head. The Factory Manager also put on the safety goggles that had fallen next to him and turned on the plasma cutter, bringing it to the leaf spring.

A bright light flashed, and tremendous sparks started to fly.

“Ohhh!”

Channing, who was seeing a plasma cutter (Plasma Cutting Machine, 압축 기체 방전을 이용하여 높은 온도로 두꺼운 금속을 자르는 절단기) for the first time, let out a sound of amazement.

“This is plasma, I don’t know exactly what it is, but it pushes it out at an incredible speed, turning it completely into powder and cutting it. Don’t ask me for details, I don’t know. Honestly, it’s not great for precise cutting, but it’s fine for this level, we can grind it down later.”

The Factory Manager explained as he cut out the shape of the blade and the tang part that goes into the handle, then turned off the plasma cutter.

“Now I’m going to mill it down.”

The Factory Manager walked over to the milling machine and carefully clamped the blade onto it.

After leveling it as much as possible using a level (수평계), the Factory Manager attached the chuck (Chuck, 면반, 회전 고정 기구의 하나) to the milling machine and started it.

The chuck started to spin with a whirring sound.

“Milling (Milling, 회전축에 날을 고정해서 사용하는 절삭기) is a machine that cuts metal. If you get used to this, you can make almost anything. This is the most basic of the basics. I’ll teach you later, so watch carefully.”

Then, he used the milling machine to smooth out the rough edges that had been cut by the plasma cutter.

After milling the tang part as well, the Factory Manager turned the blade over and milled the other side in the same way. Then, he changed the chuck of the milling machine and fixed the blade to the milling table.

“I need to carve the groove in the middle of this blade first. I don’t know why it’s there, though. Probably to reduce the weight.”

The Factory Manager turned on the milling machine again and carved a groove in the center of the blade by turning the handle. This was the part called the fuller.

The Factory Manager didn’t know much about the name or purpose of the sword. He was just making it because it was in the original.

After carving the fuller, the Factory Manager changed the chuck again and carefully adjusted the angle of the milling table.

Looking at the longsword the young man had left with him, the Factory Manager adjusted the angle here and there using the level and started the milling machine again. He then carved the blade into a diamond shape.

Since the shape became thinner towards the front, he had to adjust the table several times while carving.

Thinking this was quite a bothersome task, the Factory Manager decided he should never accept this kind of request again.

Or maybe he should charge more.

“It’s so fast and convenient.”

“There’s a reason why this is the most basic of the basics.”

The Factory Manager proudly smiled at Channing’s admiration and finished the work.

After finishing the milling work, the Factory Manager took the blade to the belt sander (Belt Sander, 사포 연삭기). It was a machine that rotated a huge sandpaper belt in a roller-style (Roller式).

The Factory Manager turned on the belt sander and started sharpening the longsword’s blade.

“Looking at it, it seems like longswords are only sharpened at the tip. Judging by that one, I mean.”

“Ah. Is that so? Interesting.”

“Well, it’s easier for me. Ah, Channing! Take a piece of lumber with the hand grinder and try carving a handle based on that longsword. Can you do it?”

“Ah! Yes! Of course! Don’t worry!”

“Touch the lumber and choose the sturdiest one. There should be a hard one.”

Channing quickly went to the pile of lumber and started examining them.

Meanwhile, the Factory Manager, who had finished sharpening the blade, put the blade down and went to the pile of scrap metal, examining the pieces. He was looking for materials to make the handle decorations.

He was looking for materials to make the guard that goes on top of the handle and the pommel that hangs at the bottom of the handle to balance the weight.

After finding a thick piece of steel plate and a piece of angle iron, the Factory Manager started shaping them with the milling machine.

Since the shape wasn’t complicated, he was able to quickly create a sleek guard that curved slightly upwards.

The pommel of the original longsword was a round, flat circle, but the Factory Manager found it too bothersome to carve it into a circle, so he simply carved the pommel into an octagon.

It turned out quite nicely, so he thought the young man would like it. However, since it might be a bit plain, he carved a small octagonal groove on each side of the pommel.

Finally, since he had to carve a groove for the blade to fit in, he changed the chuck of the milling machine and drilled holes in the pommel and guard to match the shape.

He had to change the chuck several times because it had to fit the shape of the blade.

“Ah! Damn. This is really annoying.”

After drilling holes in the guard and pommel, fitting them onto the blade, and adjusting the grooves to complete them, the Factory Manager finally cursed and placed the longsword on the table.

“Oh! I don’t know why I didn’t buy a CNC (Computerized numerical control, 자동 수치 제어 컴퓨터 시스템)! Channing! Are you done?”

“Yes! Here it is.”

Channing hurriedly brought the carved handle.

It was a bit rough because it was carved with a grinder, but it was almost the same shape as the handle of the original longsword.

“Your skills have improved.”

“Thank you.”

“But you can’t use it like this. Here, take it to the belt sander and finish it up. Can you do it?”

“Yes! Of course!”

Channing quickly took the handle and ran to the belt sander to finish it up.

“That kid learns fast… I should start teaching him how to use the milling machine soon.”

The Factory Manager muttered to himself as he watched Channing and took out a cigarette.