Chapter 150: Trial Production

However, this transmigrator’s divine artifact still had some flaws. The glass contained a large number of fine, dense bubbles. Although they didn’t affect its use, they seriously marred its appearance.

In reality, truly colorless and transparent glassware did not exist anywhere in the 17th century. It was common for early glass products to have a color cast and bubbles. Even modern glassware is not completely free of bubbles; they are just so few that they are not easily noticeable. For the transmigrators, who were accustomed to the crystal clarity of modern glassware, the current raw material was still a bit crude.

So, the next step was to work on removing the bubbles. In the glass industry, this process is called “fining” or “clarifying.” Someone vaguely remembered that a fining agent was needed, but no one knew exactly what it was.

Besides that, they remembered that stirring was also a part of the process to remove bubbles. Perhaps the two could be used in combination.

People vaguely recalled that arsenic seemed to be a fining agent. This highly toxic substance was difficult to obtain in any era. Fortunately, Guo Yi, following the agricultural department’s request, had already bought up all the arsenic in Guangzhou. Wu Nanhai had originally intended to use it for seed soaking.

The so-called arsenic fining process involved adding arsenic to the molten glass. When the arsenic entered the glass melt, it vaporized due to the high temperature. This arsenic vapor existed as large bubbles in the glass slurry. As the glass slurry was stirred, these large bubbles would gradually absorb the smaller bubbles dispersed around them, eventually carrying them away.

This method was indeed feasible, but adding arsenic to the scorching molten glass, which then sublimated into highly toxic arsenic vapor, made the process incredibly hazardous. The glass research team, equipped with a few masks and gas masks, began their first experiment.

After the glass melt was ready, the glassworkers first threw some crushed saltpeter into the crucible for decolorizing. Then they began to stir the glass slurry continuously. The crucible had a lid, and the steel stirring rod could only be inserted through a hole in the lid, which was very strenuous. It wasn’t long before they were drenched in sweat. Every hour of stirring, they would add some arsenic and continue to stir.

The resulting glass was quite clear, but the consumption of raw materials was staggering—they had used almost a full kilogram of arsenic.

One kilogram of arsenic… all the pharmacies in Guangzhou probably didn’t have more than five or six kilograms combined. To produce on this scale, they would have to establish an arsenic industry just to support the large-scale production of glass.

Clearly, this method was extremely uneconomical. After some brainstorming, someone proposed a fining method they had read about in a novel: the “water-soaked wood forced boiling method.” This involved forcibly inserting a water-soaked piece of wood into the molten glass with a steel rod, causing it to boil and carry away the bubbles.

This so-called water-soaked wood was easier to find than arsenic. There was plenty of rotten wood on the Bopu shore. They quickly found some, attached it to a steel rod, and plunged it into the molten glass.

According to those present, the situation was like setting off fireworks. The red-hot molten glass instantly exploded, spraying everywhere. Fortunately, everyone present was wearing asbestos protective clothing for steelworkers; otherwise, someone would have ended up in the hospital.

The person who suggested this was criticized for half an hour. Of course, he felt wronged—he hadn’t made it up. But production processes cannot be replicated simply from a brief description. Since there was no detailed information on how this process was actually carried out, they had to temporarily stop further experiments.

After several such attempts, someone finally found a glass manufacturing manual in the “Great Library’s” digital book collection and looked up the process for removing bubbles. First, add a fining agent—arsenic was indeed an option, but salt could also be used—and then combine it with stirring.

Stirring was not just about using a steel rod. A stirrer, a hollow cylinder made of fireclay, had to be placed in the glass crucible and moved around in the molten glass with a hooked steel rod. As long as the stirring time was sufficient, not only would most of the bubbles disappear, but the streaks and stones in the glass melt would also eventually vanish, making the glass melt completely uniform and transparent. Early optical glass was made using this method, so it was more than adequate for making commercial-grade glassware.

Sure enough, when they followed this procedure and took out the crucible again, the bubbles in the molten glass had almost completely disappeared. The viscosity of the glass melt had also decreased, making it very uniform and fluid. This glass could even be used for making materials for less demanding optical instruments, such as eyeglasses.

Before the New Year, the research team had overcome the two major technical hurdles of decolorizing and fining glass. Encouraged by their success, the team members agreed not to rest during the holiday but to continue working on the manufacturing of glassware, contributing to the early modernization of glass production.

When Wen Desi walked into the steamy glass factory workshop, he found most of the people squatting outside, fanning themselves listlessly. The glass furnace was still radiating oppressive heat, and the temperature in the workshop was easily thirty-seven or thirty-eight degrees Celsius. He was drenched in sweat in no time. A large basket in the middle of the floor was filled with shattered glass fragments. The floor and workbenches were littered with bizarrely shaped glass objects, some of which could be vaguely identified as cups or bottles.

Ji Situi listlessly told him that the trial production of glassware had been a complete failure—no one had the skill to blow a proper shape. These amateur glassmakers had been diligently practicing their glassblowing skills since early morning. They had scoured all the available materials but couldn’t find any instructions on how to blow glass. The only clue was a documentary about handmade glass. The workers on TV could blow whatever they wanted, but they couldn’t get the hang of it at all. They couldn’t even make a few objects that resembled cups, bowls, or bottles, let alone the actual items. From early morning on New Year’s Day until now, they had already filled several baskets with broken pieces.

“Wen Zong, this is not going well,” Ji Situi said, his forehead covered in sweat. The roaring furnace, combined with their inability to produce any qualified glassware, had the head of the chemical group on edge.

“Don’t worry. The Planning Committee still has a large inventory of glassware. It can last for a while,” Wen Desi said, trying to comfort him, though he was even more anxious himself.

“It’s easy to watch others carry a heavy load,” Ji Wusheng said in Shanghainese. “When it’s our turn, we can’t get it right.”

“There’s no other way but to keep trying. Practice makes perfect, I guess,” Wen Desi said, having nothing else to offer—he was also a novice in this field.

As the group was sighing and lamenting, Li Mei came in from outside. She entered with a beaming smile, wishing everyone a Happy New Year and distributing small bamboo baskets filled with betel nuts. Wen Desi knew that ever since the Women’s Welfare Cooperative had organized its own supply of betel nuts, they had been tirelessly promoting this mouth-reddening chew among the transmigrators.

In fact, Li Mei’s intentions went beyond that. Her information network was excellent. News of the industrial department’s trial production of glass had reached her ears long ago. For Li Mei, who was constantly thinking about expanding the cooperative’s product range, this was like a stimulant—glass! If they could mass-produce it, they would be rich! Since then, she had been planning to visit the glass factory and try to build a relationship with the director. The New Year’s greeting custom gave her a perfect opportunity.

“It’s the start of a new year. Why does everyone look so down?” Li Mei quickly noticed the strange atmosphere.

“How can we be happy?” Ji Wusheng said irritably. “We’ve been working all day and only produced a pile of garbage.” He then explained their lack of glassblowing skills and how they hadn’t been able to make anything so far.

Li Mei clapped her hands after hearing this. “Oh, you guys are really something. Always talking about brainstorming and group effort, but you should have asked me about this!”

“What?!” Everyone’s eyes widened. Wen Desi was also taken aback—Li Mei’s file didn’t say she had been a glass worker. The Ming family did have a unique skill that the transmigrators lacked, but it had nothing to do with glass.

“You know how to blow glass? That’s great! Please, give us a demonstration,” Ji Wusheng’s spirits immediately lifted, and he almost went to grab the old lady.

“I don’t know how to blow glass,” Li Mei said, still calm and composed. “But when I was a manager at a trading company, I handled a lot of different glass products. I know a thing or two.”

She pointed at the bizarrely shaped glassware. “Take cups, for example. There are generally two types: one is blown, and the other is molded—”

Wen Desi cried out, “Molding! How could I forget!”

“That’s right. You remember now, Wen Zong?” Li Mei said with a broad smile. “Since you can’t make blown glassware, then switch to molded glassware. In fact, when it comes to glass cups, far more are made by molding than by blowing.”

“Alright, let’s try that right away!” Ji Situi thought this opened up a new direction. Molding required molds, and designing and manufacturing molds was a piece of cake for the mechanical department, especially for such simple small items.

“Wait, we need to standardize the specifications first,” Wen Desi said. “Since we’re using molds, we need to set the appearance, specifications, and dimensions. This will facilitate standardized manufacturing in the future and avoid waste.”

Everyone looked at each other. They had seen glass cups and bottles countless times, but who knew their specifications and dimensions? It was Xiao Bailang who came up with the idea: get a sample of each type of glassware from the Planning Committee’s warehouse and measure them.

So, Wen Desi quickly called Ma Qianzhu to request a temporary loan of some glassware. The glassware research team split into two groups. One, consisting of personnel from the metallurgy and mechanical fields like Ji Wusheng and Xiao Bailang, would immediately start measuring and making molds after receiving the samples. The other group, led by Ji Situi and consisting of chemical personnel, would continue to smelt glass material to prepare enough raw material for large-scale production later. With the division of labor decided, they all set to work.

Wen Desi had also worked with molds before. Since it was the New Year holiday and there was nothing else to do, he went with the mechanics team to offer some professional advice on making the molds.

Xiao Bailang looked at the various glass cups, bowls, vases, wine bottles, water bottles, and various tea and coffee sets borrowed from the Planning Committee, unsure of which to draw first.

“Let’s start with an octagonal glass cup,” Wen Desi suggested. It was hard to say what the market demand in the 17th century would be. It was better to start with something simple.

“Alright!” Designing a mold for such a thing was no problem for Xiao Bailang, who had a background in mechanics. He examined the octagonal cup, measured its dimensions, and quickly drew a simple three-view drawing in his notebook with a pencil. Using a ruler and pencil, he designed the mold drawing on the spot.

“Wen Zong, what do you think of this mold?”

Wen Desi looked at the drawing. The mold for such a cup or bowl was very simple, just a two-part composite design with a matching clamp. There was no problem.

“Go ahead and make it like this. We don’t need any fancy materials. Have Ji Wusheng cast it from pig iron.”

New Year’s Day of 1629 passed just like that.

The next day, Ji Situi brought the several pig iron molds that had been made overnight to the glass factory. Since they had already roughly understood the physical properties of the molten glass from yesterday’s glassblowing, after some discussion and a few more trial runs, they determined the process flow: first, coat the inside of the mold with a layer of charcoal powder mixed with tung oil to prevent the molten glass from sticking to the mold. Then, Ji Situi would use a blowpipe to gather a glob of viscous glass slurry. While blowing into the blowpipe, he would roll the gathered glass material on a clean iron rolling plate to make it round. Then he would raise the blowpipe and glass bubble and blow upwards to prevent the glass material from concentrating at the bottom of the bubble. When the glass bubble reached a certain size, he would lower the blowpipe, use crucible tongs to stretch the glass bubble to the length of the pig iron mold, and place it in the mold, letting it sink to the bottom. At this point, someone next to him would step on a wooden clamp to close the mold. While continuing to blow, he would constantly rotate the blowpipe to turn the glass bubble in the mold. After a moment, he would knock off the glass bubble with cold water. When the cast iron mold was opened, a beautiful octagonal glass cup appeared before everyone. A collective sigh of relief went through the room.

Next, they made round glass cups, glass bowls, Western-style stemmed wine glasses, and even glass wine bottles—something Guo Yi had been requesting for a long time.

The finished glassware was placed in the annealing kiln for annealing. Then, they were sent to the machine shop, where the blowpipe opening was cut off with a high-speed wheel saw and then polished and finished. This work was done by the apprentices of the mechanical department.

The first batch of finished glassware was cherished by the entire glass research team. Upon receiving this good news, the Executive Committee ordered that one of each type of glassware from this batch be sent to the Planning Committee for permanent preservation as an “important historical artifact.”

Ji Situi, building on this success, went ahead and, as requested by Guo Yi in his telegram, had Xiao Bailang design a set of molds based on the shape of a flat Red Star Erguotou bottle and produced three hundred of them in one go. This small item had a simple shape and used little material, making it perfect for the new workers to practice on.