Free Web NovelChapter 438: Chapter 224: Genius, What a Genius!
However, when they saw Li Younan showing a bit of his skills on the "Alone in the Wilderness" program, they realized that perhaps this young man really was that remarkable.
Then, the director began to preside over this examination and said, "Xiaoli, don’t be nervous. Master Chen has already spoken to us about you, and we highly value talents like you. As the saying goes, heroes never ask for origins; since ancient times, heroes emerge from the young. As long as your standards meet the required level, then merits always come first."
"However, the Qianlong famille rose hollow revolving vase we plan to restore is truly a national treasure, and it must be flawless. Therefore, we need to examine your abilities. I hope you understand."
Li Younan nodded courteously and said, "Okay, director, I completely understand."
"Then let’s begin. Firstly, we need to examine your ceramic repair skills. Master Luo."
Master Luo nodded and then took out a miniature replica of a revolving vase with a chipped outer screen and a missing inner screen pivot, about a 1:5 scale, from a box.
Master Luo smiled and said, "We need to restore the revolving vase, so this examination should also address the challenges of restoration. This replica was made when we were developing the restoration plan, specifically to solve the restoration problem."
Li Younan’s gaze fell on the damaged replica.
Master Luo continued, "The requirements are for you to match an axis with the same material as the original and restore the chipped outer screen. There are two core indices. The first is that, after repair, the inner screen rotation must achieve 180 degrees without jamming, and the connection error between the axis and the inner screen base must be less than 0.1 millimeters. The second is that, for the chipped outer screen, after repair, you must leave room for subsequent hollow carving of pavilion patterns, with the root of the flying eaves leaving a thickness error of less than 0.05 millimeters, and the smoothness error of the arc connection between the repaired piece and the original body less than 0.03 millimeters."
The director added from the side, "There are no more than three master craftsmen in the entire Forbidden City who can achieve this, so it is extremely difficult. Xiaoli, how much time do you think you will need?"
Li Younan slowly walked over to the replica, carefully examining it, while the others focused all their attention on him.
Everyone was well aware of where the difficulty of this repair task lay.
Firstly, it was the dual precision stacking; not only controlling the precision of the axis but also depending on the precision of the repair, while also mastering the characteristics of ceramic materials and the principles of mechanical structures.
Especially because firing would cause shrinkage, the mere standard of precision is not sufficient to pass.
Moreover, there was no directly referable standard damaged piece and no complete axis preserved, which requires measuring the wear marks of the axis hole in the inner screen and the base axis groove to inversely calculate the parameters of the original axis.
It tests the experience and judgment of the wear patterns of the old body rather than a simple precise replication.
This means a deep familiarity with ceramic manufacturing techniques is required from Li Younan.
In fact, this is indeed one of the real challenges in repairing this national treasure.
But considering Li Younan’s experience, it seemed that he had only demonstrated pottery skills on that reality show.
Although producing ceramics to that level in a wild environment indeed shows some capability, for someone so young, he must have had few opportunities to fire ceramics.
If he lacked experience, how could he possibly accomplish this?
Master Luo then introduced to Li Younan the equipment used for repair in the laboratory, all of which were professional-grade with significant technological content.
Li Younan briefly familiarized himself with the equipment’s usage, then his mouth began slightly curving upwards.
"Give me half a day. Since this involves repeated firings, it takes a bit more time than other processes."
Upon hearing Li Younan’s words, Master Luo widened his eyes, while others began whispering among themselves, and the director looked at Li Younan in disbelief.
Half a day?
If not for the confidence and assurance emanating from Li Younan at this moment, along with Master Chen’s character endorsement, they would have thought Li Younan was joking with them!
Because the difficulty of this question is in inversely calculating the parameters of the axis while maintaining the dynamic fitting precision of the axis and the static reserve precision of the repair, and also considering the firing shrinkage rate of ceramic materials.
Theoretically speaking, it would take at least three to five days.
Two days for measurement, analysis, and axis design, one to two days for manufacturing and firing the axis and fitting the body, and another day for assembly and debugging.
And Li Younan told them he only needed half a day?
All their expressions became somewhat odd, after all, they were real experts in this field.
Yet, Li Younan asked the director politely, "Director, may I start now?"
The director felt somewhat wavering in his heart; perhaps Master Chen did not exaggerate, and this young person indeed had skills in painting. However, in terms of ceramic firing skills, there might still be a gap.
Such a gap suggests that he might not even comprehend the difficulty of this task yet.
Just as the director was about to say something, Master Luo asked Li Younan a serious and solemn question, "Young man, what do you think the shrinkage rate of this replica might be?"
Without much thought, Li Younan picked up the replica and said, "The firing temperature of this ceramic should be around 1100 degrees, with a linear shrinkage rate of approximately 16%."
