After the second batch of knives and axes were produced, Xu Chen still conducted intensive use verification and found that after increasing the proportion of tin, the hardness of the alloy was much higher.
In other words, a tin ratio of more than 20% will make the alloy harder, sharper and wear-resistant. It is almost as good as the knives and axes commonly used in the countryside before he traveled, which made him overjoyed.
Therefore, he did not intend to continue to fiddle with more proportions and formulas, and decided to control the bronze smelting proportion within the current proportion range for the time being.
However, the alloys currently being smelted are doped with lead, which is fine for chopping trees and making tools, but if it is used to kill wild animals and process food for a long time, it will definitely be harmful to the body.
Xu Chen decided to continue his efforts and started smelting the third furnace of bronze.
This time, he decided not to add lead.
I have tried pure copper-lead alloy before, and the hardness is not bad, but it is relatively brittle and hard and easy to break.
He believed that the properties of the alloy smelted from copper and tin would not be too bad. After all, in his two consecutive furnace tests, the lead content was only 23%. This content is estimated to be low in current metal smelting.
It's just like impurities.
He believes that the so-called pure copper smelted by the Uzbek people also contains many other metals. If viewed strictly, the current bronzes are actually a hodgepodge, with at least a dozen kinds of messy elements.
Fifty pounds of copper ingots and fifteen pounds of tin were added to the smelting furnace again to start smelting.
Xu Chen began to make clay molds.
This time he did not make molds for large knives and axes, but only for daggers, boning knives and kitchen knives, and also got a few chisels.
These knives are not too heavy, one weighs only half a catty, so there are a lot of them, and making the molds is very cumbersome.
The little witch had nothing to do all day long. In addition to meditating and studying at home and helping to organize some of the ideas and diaries Xu Chen recorded on weekdays, she also spent most of her time in the kiln. She followed Xu Chen to make molds with great interest. Ye Zai was busy working on it.
When I have free time from work, I will come to join in the fun.
Men and women are matched, so work is not tiring.
The three young men and women gathered together, chatting and working casually, and occasionally had a few fights, but most of the time Xu Chen was working while telling the people in the smelting workshop some interesting things he encountered when he went out last time.
Occasionally, at the request of the little witch and Ye, I would also tell some fairy tales, such as the old mother patching up the sky, Jingwei filling up the sea, Kuafu chasing the sun, Hou Yi shooting the sun and other themes familiar to later generations. Of course, there are also some
It is mixed with a lot of messy online fantasy and mythological novels.
Under the temptation of these bizarre and tempting stories, men, women, old and young would run to the kiln even if they had nothing to do. The smelting workshop was often surrounded by water, causing people to come and go in the kiln all day long with laughter and laughter.
After a few days of busy work, the third furnace of bronze was finished pouring.
This time, the knives that came out were all knives used in daily life, with a total number of fifty or sixty.
Facing these dazzling golden knives, the faces of men, women and children were filled with happy and excited smiles.
The quality of these alloys without adding lead did not disappoint Xu Chen.
After polishing, these knives were as sharp as the second batch of knives and axes, and their toughness was also very good, fully achieving the results Xu Chen expected.
For him, the success of the third test is very important, because lead-free bronze is also strong and durable, so he will be more assured when making daily knives and utensils in the future, and he can even directly use bronze to cast copper pots.
When cooking and stewing vegetables, you no longer have to worry about lead poisoning.
At least copper and tin are non-toxic.
The third batch of lead-free knives was large in number, and it would take a long time to install all the handles. Moreover, once this batch of knives was put into use, the daily life of the entire tribe would be enough, so Xu Chen paused the heating of the smelting furnace and took a group of
The smelter and several carpenters worked hard to complete the installation and polishing of the knife.
Axes, hatchets, kitchen knives, boning knives. These utility knives are placed in the kitchen and tool room for easy use and are not fixed.
However, daggers are distributed according to the hunter level.
A group of general-level tribesmen such as Gu, Ju, Mo, Ju, Gao, etc. all received the assigned daggers immediately. For safety, Xu Chen also guided them to make simple animal skin scabbards to wear on their bodies.
.
These daggers are considered as issued standard self-defense weapons. They are personal items like bows and arrows and leather armor. They belong to you and need to be properly collected and maintained by yourself. If you lose them, you need to hunt enough wild beasts to get a second one.
The second batch is allocated to a group of core hunters, mainly members of the tribe who are outstanding in hunting, fishing and daily training.
The third group are ordinary men.
As these three batches of knives were gradually put into use, the tribe's production and life underwent earth-shaking changes.
Almost all the traditional stone knives, stone axes, bone and tooth daggers have been discarded.
The ax and hatchet were extremely sharp for cutting wood and firewood, which increased the speed of burning charcoal and cutting firewood in the kiln more than ten times, and a large number of trees and timber had to be transported back every day.
These daily knives such as kitchen knives and daggers also make slaughtering wild animals and processing food easier and faster.
These sharp bronze knives are regarded as treasures by all tribesmen. You can always see the men carefully wiping and polishing them. They even put them next to their pillows when they sleep and do not want to put them too far away.
At the end of January, the people who set out for the Yu Gong Clan and Gong Huo Clan returned with the wind.
When I went there, the bamboo raft was filled with pottery and linen, but when I returned, the cargo shipped was much less. In addition to a few skins of pocket salt, there were some animal skins, gold and gems, and more than three hundred kilograms of lead.
tin.
More than a dozen wooden rafts and bamboo rafts were docked at Hewan Pier.
However, when Feng and a group of returning hunters looked at the daggers with similar handles hanging on the waists of the hunters who were waiting to move the goods, they all asked questions one after another.
And when these hunters who stayed at home proudly drew out their shining daggers and showed off by cutting off branches and hemp ropes with ease, a group of hunters with dusty faces all went crazy. They didn't care about the bamboo rafts or the goods, and turned over.
Get on your horse and head straight to the valley.
After being away from home for more than ten days, I never expected that the tribe would have such a powerful and sharp treasure.
They were busy working outside and had little food or sleep. They were exposed to wind and rain and faced the risk of being attacked by all kinds of wild beasts. They just needed such sharp and easy-to-hand weapons.
More than a dozen horses that were originally used to carry the goods were ridden away, so a group of guys who greeted him could only walk back with rattan baskets and baskets on their backs, crying loudly.
After getting used to riding a horse to carry goods, the ten-mile journey between the compound and the river beach took half a day. In the eyes of all men, walking was completely unbearable. The only way to survive was by riding a horse.
It seems that we need to catch a few more groups of wild horses, at least one for each person.
Unfortunately, there are no large herds of wild horses nearby.
However... there seem to be quite a few on the river beach opposite.
So a group of men carrying goods slowly walked back, and at the same time they all turned back to look at the vast and wild river beach on the other side of the Wulong River. Since a group of large night wolf families were killed and driven away, there were more than ten people walking up and down the river beach.
There were more and more wild animals in the area, and it seemed that even a group of wild horses that escaped and ascended to heaven near the mouth of the Wuzu River were so scared that they crossed the river to the other side.
It seems that the best thing to do is to let Chen go to the other side of the river to organize a large-scale horse hunting operation.
It is impossible to survive without a horse.
It’s been a long time since I walked home on my legs like this.
Before the group of people here entered the valley entrance, Feng led more than ten people on horseback to the entrance of the compound. He threw away the reins and jumped off the horse, shouting and going straight to Xu Chen's room.
Xu Chen was drawing pictures on a ceramic tablet in his room.
He was startled by a group of disheveled guys who suddenly rushed in. He dropped the charcoal clay plate in his hand and stood up nervously and asked: "What happened?"
Feng jumped in front of Xu Chen, grabbed Xu Chen's arm and shouted excitedly: "Dagger, we want a dagger too!"
"Yes, yes, everyone else has it, so we want it too!"
Behind him, a large group of people crowded inside and outside the room and started shouting.
Xu Chen instantly breathed a sigh of relief, knocked down the huge furry claw like a wind bear's paw, and said angrily: "I'm so anxious, I will definitely not miss you!"
A group of people were overjoyed. Feng immediately smiled flatteringly and nodded quickly and said: "Where is it? Get it quickly!"
Xu Chen's face twitched and he said: "I told you not to rush, but now there's no need!"
Feng and others immediately felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on them, the excitement on their faces disappeared without a trace, and their mood suddenly dropped.
Thinking of Feng and a group of people busy in the wind and rain, it was indeed a little hurt, so Xu Chen consoled him:
"It's not that I won't make it for you, but you go out often and need better weapons. I'm still designing it. Once the design is completed, I guarantee it will be better than others."
"Really?" Feng and the others were instantly refreshed with surprise on their faces.
"When did I lie to you? Look..."
Xu Chen pointed to the slate on the table.
Feng and others quickly came up to take a look, and saw seven or eight pottery boards, each with different styles of weapons such as swords, guns, swords, halberds, axes, hooks and forks.
However, they didn't recognize any of these weapons, so everyone looked confused and didn't know how powerful they were.
"These weapons are more complex than daggers and axes, and are more troublesome to make. You need to carefully design a suitable mold before you can start processing. Don't worry, just come back and have a good rest for a few days. After I design and make the mold, I will cast it, which will definitely make you happy.
satisfy."
"Okay, okay, then we'll wait!"
Feng knew that Xu Chen would never lie to them, so he stopped making trouble and left the room together with faces full of expectations. Soon after, various shouting and noisy sounds came from outside.
Because they found the golden hatchets and axes in the hands of a few tool workers who were busy in the yard. It was like they had discovered a new world. They swarmed up to grab them and then went straight to the outside of the compound.
Soon, I heard the sound of gnawing and chopping trees and the howling of ghosts and wolves coming from the river beach and the foot of the mountain behind the house.