I bring Europe a furniture revolution

After Joseph finished explaining the trial production of Bulletproof Insert, a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

These past few days, working non-stop at the Ordnance Factory, have made him feel like he's back in his past life, working on projects with his mentor. Luckily, his father is here to help, otherwise he'll be completely exhausted.

He watched Louis XVI leave for the Petit Trianon — His King had indulged in his Craftsman these past few days and was missing his wife a bit—and without delay, he immediately drove to the Royal Gunpowder Bureau in Paris to discuss the production of Casein Glue with Lavoisier.

Without solving the problem of adhesive dosage production, the enormous strategic value of Bulletproof Insert cannot be realized.

When Joseph's Carriage stopped in front of the Royal Gunpowder Bureau's office building, the entire Gunpowder Bureau immediately stirred. The management and Craftsman here all had some connection with the military and were very concerned about the victory at the front. People dropped what they were doing to come and see the legendary hero who created the "Victory in the Southern Netherlands"—His Crown Prince.

Ultimately, Joseph, who was being "strongly watched," had no choice but to drag Lavoisier away from the Gunpowder Bureau to his office in the Tuileries Palace to discuss matters.

Meanwhile, at the Gunpowder Bureau, people watched the Crown Prince's Carriage disappear into the distance, and only after a long while did they reluctantly return to their work amidst the roars of the overseers.

In Joseph's Carriage, Lavoisier frowned slightly after hearing the Crown Prince's request and said, "Your Highness, producing Casein Glue is not difficult, but the demand for your Bulletproof Insert may not be enough to support large-scale production."

Joseph was taken aback by these words. He had been so busy that he was completely overwhelmed. Yes, in the pre -Industrialization era, as long as one was willing to invest and there were no technological obstacles, almost anything could be mass-produced.

But the problem is, who will buy what we make? If we can't sell it, we'll just keep losing money.

Although he was willing to lose money on manufacturing important military equipment, this couldn't go on forever.

He looked at the "father of chemistry" and asked, "Mr. Lavoisier, to your knowledge, who needs this kind of adhesive?"

"Oh, in the past only carpenters would use it in small quantities, and leatherworkers would occasionally use a little to glue shoe soles. They usually ordered a small bottle from the pharmacy at the beginning of each year."

"Carpenter?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Lavoisier said, "Casein Glue was originally invented to meet the needs of carpenters. But as you know, this invention didn't make him much money."

Joseph said thoughtfully, "Could you tell me in detail the circumstances under which a carpenter would use this?"

"In any situation where nails cannot be used, Your Highness Casein Glue is extremely strong for bonding Timber; after it dries, the bonded joint is even harder than the Wood itself..."

As Lavoisier detailed the properties of Casein Glue, Joseph's eyes gradually lit up.

If Casein Glue has such high drying strength and excellent compatibility with Timber, wouldn't it be suitable for manufacturing engineered wood products?

He knew that in later generations, ordinary families rarely used solid wood furniture; ninety percent of the furniture on the market was made of composite boards such as MDF and particleboard.

These engineered wood panels are made by mixing wood chips, sawdust, and other "waste materials" with adhesives and pressing them together.

Don't underestimate this seemingly "recycled" material— Synthetic Board sparked a furniture revolution at the end of the 19th century!

First, the price of composite boards is much lower than that of solid wood.

This is mainly because the solid wood suitable for making furniture is basically limited to the main trunk of a straight tree; branches or trees that have grown crooked cannot be used.

Composite boards, on the other hand, can utilize an entire tree to Writers, because any crooked or fragmented pieces can be shredded and glued together into standard square boards. Although there are additional costs associated with adhesives and processing, the overall price remains very low.

Large-scale timber-consuming industries like shipbuilding in the 18th century could discard enough useless timber each year to replace all the furniture in France.

If an engineered wood panel manufacturing plant could be built near the Brittany Shipyard, Industrial Chain could be formed, encompassing timber, shipbuilding, engineered wood panels, and furniture, potentially even significantly reducing shipbuilding costs.

Furthermore, and more importantly, the biggest advantage of composite boards over solid wood is not cost.

This may be different from people's usual impression, but the reason why composite boards have been able to trigger a furniture revolution is mainly because they have several unparalleled advantages:

First, it's easy to process. Composite boards are basically square and flat on both sides when they leave the factory. A carpenter can easily assemble furniture by sawing them a few times. Meanwhile, carpenters who make furniture from solid wood are still struggling to process the boards.

This will increase furniture production several times or even ten times, and the variety of styles will also increase. With a wider range of choices and lower prices, furniture buyers will naturally experience a sales boom.

It's important to understand that the most profitable industrial products are never the most sophisticated, but rather those that can meet the basic needs of the largest population. Just like later brands such as Mercedes-Benz -Benz and BMW, they ultimately couldn't compete with Toyota and Volkswagen, which cater to ordinary consumers.

Secondly, composite boards have a much stronger nail-holding ability than solid wood boards. Because solid wood is dense, it generates a force that pushes the nail outward, while composite boards, which are glued together with wood chips, do not have this problem.

This results in furniture made of composite boards being more durable than furniture made of solid wood.

Of course, this could be solved using the mortise and tenon joint structure of the the East, but currently European Continent furniture is still mainly made with nails. To get hundreds of thousands of carpenters to change their usual techniques would require a God intervention.

Finally, composite boards are far more resistant to insects than solid boards. Well... adhesives are more disgusting to woodworms than dog poop, not to mention they're toxic.

Durable, insect-resistant, and inexpensive furniture can easily overtake solid wood furniture and dominate the market.

Thinking of this, Joseph suppressed his excitement and asked Lavoisier, "If I can find a market, say more than 500,000 kilograms per month, can you help me build such a large-scale Casein Glue factory?"

500,000 kilograms?!

Lavoisier was astonished. At present, the entire Europe probably only consumes tens of thousands of kilograms of Casein Glue per year, while His Crown Prince sells 500,000 kilograms in a single month. This is simply unbelievable!

However, when he saw Joseph's serious expression, he began to lower his head and think seriously.

After a moment, he shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, it is absolutely impossible to produce 500,000 kilograms per month in a short period of time. If you are willing to invest 1 Livre, I can try to increase the production to 50,000 kilograms per month."

"One Livre!" Joseph almost swore. His initial investment in the United Steam Engine Company was only one million. How could this mere "glue factory," producing 50,000 kilograms a month, possibly compare to Steam Engine?