The workshop owner leaned over with a smile.
"Mr. Factory Manager, ladies, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Just accompany the two of them on a tour of this workshop and introduce the printing process."
"Yes."
The factory director nodded, and said to Irene and Laddie, "He is the director in charge of this workshop. If you have any questions, just ask him. I still have work to do, so I won't accompany you for now." Then he turned and left.
Irene pouted at the leaving figure of the factory director. Laddie on the side took her hand and turned to the workshop director and said, "I'll trouble you, Mr. Director. Betty and I are really interested in this place."
The director apologized awkwardly. "If you are anywhere, please come with me."
The three of them came to the nearest Printing Press. The director pointed at the machine and explained the structure and working principle of Printing Press to Irene and Laddie in detail.
There happened to be a worker operating the machine, and the two women watched the complete printing process.
The printers work in teams of two, taking turns operating the plate table in and out and pulling the Printing Press. This job is relatively labor-intensive, while evenly applying ink to the paper requires higher technical requirements.
A worker applies ink to the printing plate with a handle shovel, wipes it carefully with an ink roller, then takes an ink-wiping ball pad from the rack, pats it lightly on the ink, and then rubs it in a circular motion on the plate to spread the ink evenly on the surface.
Next, apply ink to each page of the printing plate in turn, wiping the ink pad from time to time to adjust the distribution of ink.
At the same time, another worker places a page of paper in the printing position fixed on the paper plate, then closes the paper clamping frame above, and then uses his right hand to lower the paper plate, paper and paper clamping frame to the plane of the inked type; he holds the Printing Press handle tightly with his right hand and turns Move it so that it drives the front half of the plate table under the pressure plate. Use your right hand to pull down the Printing Press handle, move the second half of the plate table under the pressure plate, pull it again, and then relax the handle to make it bounce back; lift the pressure plate, move the plate table out, and remove the paper plate device.
"Wow! It's so simple! This Printing Press is so useful!"
Irene clapped her hands in joy, and the silver bell-like sound attracted everyone to look at her again. Of course, they didn't agree with her words: "Simple? This little girl said it too easily. Are you going to try printing 200 single pages in one hour? I'm sure it will make you cry."
The workshop director smiled and introduced, "After arranging a plate, we will print all the planned number of papers on one side, then print the reverse side of the paper, hang it up to dry, and finally bind them and store them in the warehouse. The used printing plates must be washed with lye and handed over to the typesetters to break them into movable type."
"Is this movable type?"
Laddie Setia walked to the side of the typesetter Sam and looked at the metal movable types on the table. These small things were smaller than the nail of her little finger.
"Yes, yes, consultant Setia, these are movable types. Even though they are small, they are really not easy to make."
The workshop director introduced it in a showy tone.
"The letter engraver first draws the letters on the end of the metal blank, then carves or files away the unnecessary metal, then hardens these male molds and punches them into brass or bronze to create a blank female mold, the width of which varies with the size of the letters."
"The next step is to file off all the raised metal parts of the stamp surface and adjust the size of the negative mold so that the type can be accurately embedded in the appropriate position at the bottom of the stamp. Then the negative mold is handed over to the caster. When casting the movable type, the caster must ensure that the molten metal liquid covers every corner of the letter. This 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, "With 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 a bit difficult to apply ink evenly, and the speed will slow down."
"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 Sakura opened her mouth slightly and said in astonishment, "This speed... is indeed much faster than copying books."
Laddie 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, that one you're talking about! It's a batch of books from Jiaowan sent by the lord for us to print, but we don't recognize Horn Bay language on it. It took a lot of effort to cast movable type and typeset. It is said that the lord The Lord wants to sell them back to Jiaowan. I heard from the factory director that this is "Wet Extremes" written by some poet from Jiaowan. Let me tell you, these Jiaowan guys are so full that they just write nonsense when they have nothing to do."
Laddie heard a black line. The workshop director did not know that the Female Advisor in front of him was from Jiaowan, and he was still expressing his opinion. "Well, selling it back to the rich guys is also a very good business. I heard that everyone there is extremely rich... Oops!"
The director jumped up holding his feet.
Irene said with an apologetic look, "Oh, I'm so sorry, no one paid attention when I took a step..."
The director looked at her delicate face and couldn't get angry at all. He waved his hand and said, "Haha, it's okay."
Irene and Laddie visited the factory for a long time, and it was not until almost noon that they left the samples to be printed and said goodbye and returned.
They chatted as they walked, exchanging their opinions on what they had just seen.
"Betty, I think compared to those muskets and cannons, this Printing Press is something even more amazing."
"I think so too. As long as we make a few more Printing Presss, books will be so cheap that even ordinary people can afford them."
"Aren't the "Literacy Book" and "Basic Hygiene Handbook" we just sent aimed at civilians? Although the things above are very simple, they are the key to opening the door to knowledge. Haha, you, the Department of Education supervisor, can show off your skills."
"Well, I am indeed becoming more and more confident after seeing Printing Press. Speaking of Department of Education, if you had been there at that time, I guess that idiot would have appointed you as the supervisor."
"Don't say that. It's appropriate for you to take this position. Let those men take a good look at what we women are capable of."
Irene clenched his little fist. "I will definitely work hard."
She suddenly let go, as if she had thought of something, and said a little absently, "But, will the status of 'scholar' become less and less valuable?"
Laddie's face darkened, then he smiled sweetly and said, "Isn't it what we like to see more people get knowledge?"
"That's right!"
Seeing that the other party was so open-minded, Irene was relieved.