We entered the large steel workshop and I immediately started looking around. I was curious to see what a steel workshop looked like with the Kingdom's level of technology. The area was wide open with lots of room so large steel pieces could be moved without banging into things.
At the very far end, I could see a row of furnaces on the wall which were used to smelt the steel. Of course these were much simpler than the large blast furnaces I was used to seeing in my world. Sadly, I had no idea how to create a blast furnace from scratch, so this was the level we were stuck with for the time being.
Another stark contrast to the steel shops I had seen in my world was that one corner of the shop was full of blacksmiths who were hammering the steel pieces into the shape they wanted for things like swords or intricate small parts. They were true artisans who had skills that blew me away.
Since my job was in building design, all the shops I had seen before focused on large beams and columns, not these small intricate pieces that needed to be made by hand. Even then, they probably programmed a machine to cut the intricate steel parts out from a block of steel quickly instead of needing to take time shaping it by hand.
Another thing I noticed is that any large parts had to be carried over by a huge number of people since a piece of steel reaching 10+ feet could start getting into the thousands of pounds. I wanted to introduce the conveyor belts and cranes that were commonplace in the shops from my world to carry beams of steel that could be as heavy as 20 thousand pounds, but I think those things would need electricity. A conveyor belt without electricity and only gears might still be somewhat helpful, so maybe I'll bring it up to them at a later time. Right now, I wanted to focus on the projects that I had the most confidence in.
Looking around at the large shop with workers busy putting in their best effort got my blood pumping. I can't wait to help my Father-in-law modify the shop and make it an even better work environment than it already was.
I turned to Becca's Father with a big smile on my face. "This place is very impressive."
Becca's Father's ears perked up at the compliment. "I am glad you can appreciate the planning and work that was put into everything. I noticed you have been looking around at everything with enthusiasm, is this your first time in a steel workshop?"
Because I am currently the Duke, I went with the most plausible answer. "Yes, I have heard a lot about them from my researchers, but it really gives off a different feel in person."
Becca's Father stuck his head up slightly, "yes, theory and research are just on paper. The reality can always be very different, so don't be too disappointed if your ideas turn out to not be suitable. You are just a newbie in the steel industry."
Funny enough, even with my advanced technological knowledge, I really was still a newbie. I had only worked in the industry for 2 years before I transmigrated, so Becca's Father really did have much more experience than me.
"You are right, please help guide me with your expertise."
"Since you are the husband of my daughter, I will help you out the best I can."
Soon, we arrived at his office. After he let me in, he explained, "sit here and relax for a second, I will go get all the researchers."
Soon, Becca's Father returned with 10 researchers. They came in all shapes and sizes but they all had rough calluses on their hands as research in the current times meant trying things out by hand.
They all greeted me respectfully, "welcome Duke Harrison, how can we help you?"
I waved my hand, "come everyone sit down. I will do a little presentation on what I have. I currently have the blueprints for two revolutionary products. One of these blueprints is still a little bit on the theoretical side so I will need your expertise in steel fabrication to iron out the details, but if we can work together to make it a reality, it will sell like crazy. As for the other blueprint, that one I have 100% certainty will work, so we can look at that one last and I can explain it to you in a way that will hopefully help you understand the logic."
As everyone was taking their seats around the large table in the office, I could hear serval of them mutter about the excitement for the chance to see something revolutionary, but also a lot of reluctance that someone with no steel knowledge would probably not be bringing something actually revolutionary.
Once everyone settled down, I unraveled the set of blueprints for the coil spring. "This is called a spring. The big thing about springs is that if you put a force on the spring, it will displace until the coils are touching each other. You can hold this down and release it later. Once released, it will shot back to the original shape of the spring. This element of a spring is important because it is an easy way to save some kinetic energy as potential energy that you can release whenever you want just by releasing the thing that is holding the spring down. There are maybe uses for a spring. The ability to get various levels of movement depending on the amount of force placed initially makes it so you can make many small contraptions with more freedom of movement than you were able to before."
Becca's Father looked at his team, "so what do you guys think?"
The researchers all put their hands on their chins as they thought about the potential applications of a hypothetical spring.