I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 374 I bring furniture revolution to Europe

After Joseph finished explaining the trial production of bulletproof inserts, he felt exhausted all over.

These days, he worked non-stop in the arsenal, which made him feel like he was back to the time when he was working on a project with his mentor in his previous life. Fortunately, he had his father to help him, so he didn't get tired to death.

He watched Louis XVI go to the Petit Trianon Palace - His Majesty the King had indulged in craftsmanship these days and missed his wife a little - he did not delay and immediately drove to the Royal Gunpowder Bureau in Paris to discuss the production of casein glue with Lavoisier.

If the problem of adhesive quantity production is not solved, the huge strategic value of bulletproof inserts cannot be reflected.

When Joseph's carriage stopped in front of the office building of the Royal Gunpowder Bureau, the entire gunpowder bureau immediately became agitated. The management and craftsmen here have more or less some relationship with the military and are very concerned about the victory on the front line. People dropped their work and came to see the legendary hero who created the "Great Victory of the Southern Netherlands" - His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

In the end, Joseph, who was "strongly watched", had to pull Lavoisier away from the gunpowder bureau and go to his office in the Tuileries Palace to discuss things.

At the gunpowder bureau, people watched the prince's carriage go away. After a long time, they finally went back to work reluctantly under the roar of the supervisors.

In Joseph's carriage, after listening to the prince's request, Lavoisier frowned slightly and said: "Your Highness, it is not difficult to produce casein glue, but the demand for your bulletproof inserts may be difficult to support large-scale production."

Joseph was stunned when he heard this, and he was also busy. Yes, in the pre-industrial era, as long as you are willing to invest and there are no technical obstacles, almost anything can be mass-produced.

But the problem is who to sell the products to? If you can't sell them, you can only keep losing money.

Although he is willing to lose money in terms of manufacturing important military equipment, it is not a good thing to keep going like this.

He looked at the "Father of Chemistry" and asked, "Mr. Lavoisier, as far as you know, who needs to use this adhesive?"

"Oh, in the past, only carpenters used a small amount, and leather workers occasionally used a little to glue the soles of shoes. They usually went to the pharmacy to order a small bottle at the beginning of each year."

"Carpenters?"

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

Joseph thought thoughtfully: "Can you tell me in detail under what circumstances carpenters will use this thing?"

"Any occasion where nails cannot be used, Your Highness. Casein glue is very strong in bonding wood. After drying, the bonded part is even harder than the wood itself..."

As Lavoisier introduced the properties of casein glue in detail, Joseph's eyes gradually lit up.

If the drying strength of casein glue is so high and its affinity with wood is excellent, can't it be used to make artificial boards?

He knew that ordinary people in later generations rarely used pure solid wood furniture, and 90% of the furniture in the market were made of synthetic boards such as density boards and particle boards.

These artificial boards are made of "waste materials" such as wood residues and sawdust, mixed with adhesives and pressed.

Don't underestimate this kind of "waste utilization" thing - artificial synthetic boards triggered the furniture revolution in the late 19th century!

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

This is mainly because the solid wood that can be used to make furniture is basically limited to the main trunk of a straight tree, and those branches or crooked trees cannot be used.

Synthetic boards can use a whole tree to make furniture, because no matter whether it is crooked or broken, it can all be crushed and glued into standard square boards. Although there are more adhesives and processing costs, the overall price is still very low.

Similar to the shipbuilding industry in the 18th century, which is a large consumer of wood, the useless wood thrown away every year is enough to replace new furniture for all French people.

If an artificial board manufacturing plant can be built near the Brittany shipyard, an industrial chain of wood-shipbuilding-synthetic board-furniture can be formed, and even the cost of shipbuilding can be reduced a lot.

In addition, more importantly, the biggest advantage of synthetic board over solid wood is not cost.

This may be different from people's usual impression, but the reason why synthetic board can trigger a furniture revolution is mainly because it has several incomparable advantages:

The first is easy processing. Synthetic board is basically square and flat on both sides when it leaves the factory. Carpenters can quickly assemble furniture with just a saw. Carpenters who make furniture with solid wood are still grunting and processing wooden boards.

In this way, the output of furniture will increase several times or even dozens of times, and the styles will increase accordingly. People who buy furniture will have more choices and lower prices, which will naturally set off a sales boom.

You must know that the most profitable industrial products are never the most sophisticated, but the ones that can meet the basic needs of the largest population. Just like Mercedes-Benz and BMW in later generations, they can't beat Toyota and Volkswagen for ordinary consumers in the end.

Second, the nail holding performance of synthetic boards is much stronger than that of solid wood boards. Since the wood of solid wood boards is dense, there will be a force that pushes the nails outward, while synthetic boards that are glued together with wood residues do not have this problem.

This leads to the durability of furniture made of synthetic boards being stronger than that of solid wood boards.

Of course, this can be solved by using the mortise and tenon structure of the East, but currently European furniture is still mainly nailed. If you want hundreds of thousands of carpenters to change their usual skills, it would be impossible unless God really appeared.

Finally, the moth-proofing of synthetic boards is dozens of blocks better than that of solid wood boards. Well... adhesives are more disgusting than dog shit to moths, not to mention that they are poisonous.

Durable, moth-proof, and cheap furniture can easily overturn solid wood furniture and occupy the market.

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

"500,000 kilograms?!"

Lavoisier was shocked. At present, the casein glue consumed in the whole of Europe may be only tens of thousands of kilograms a year. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is going to sell 500,000 kilograms a month. This is incredible!

But when he saw Joseph's serious expression, he began to think seriously.

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

"1 million livres!" Joseph almost swore. When he started the United Steam Engine Company, the initial investment was only 1 million. How can this "glue factory" with a monthly output of 50,000 kilograms be compared with a steam engine?