The zinc fluorite test with glass between the crystal and the bird seemed to remove the sunburn potential of the crystals, so I decided to queue up 12-inch zinc fluorite crystals for production, in place of 12-inch heat crystals. For these crystals, I just want to cut the crystal into 8 equal parts, and then have glass casings developed for them to function as magical lightbulbs. Perhaps if we only cut the crystals in half, we could make floodlights to light certain areas at night time, if we think that would be useful. Though for now, I think I want to regulate their usage to storage basements and mining lights powered by mana crystals.
His tests took four days to repeat, and the growing of the first 12-inch zinc crystal took 5 days. I used stone shaping to make prototype cut zinc components out of stone, and then had the glass makers develop a sheath for the cut pieces. What we decided to do was cover three faces in glass, then use stone to form as the seal on the final face. The stone can then either be attached to stone ceilings with stone shaping, or opened up to form a pocket with water where a mana crystal can be inserted, functioning a bit like a battery. That light can then be held or attached to a stand or wall to provide light until the mana crystal empties out.
I put in an order for enough glass to make 160 lights, which would be made from 20 zinc fluorite crystals in total. Making all those crystals with our current setup would take 100 days in perfect conditions, so I doubt they'll be done any time soon. In the future, I'll probably want to make more crystal growth chambers deep underground to keep up with production.
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The first zinc fluorite crystal was cut quickly and placed into the glass containers for the lights. These first eight are going partially to the tunnel miners. I've even had the carpenters make tripod mounts for them, so they can be easily moved as construction proceeds. After the first eight were done though, we started putting the lights into various warehouse basements.
I then started work on the new stirling engines, so I could finish the factory for future ones to be built in. I used two of the lower efficiency small engines to power the large fans moving air through the buildings. Since I was being careful to also make positives for the sand molds later, I ended up spending twelve days to make and install those two stirling engines. Their hot side pointed up out of the roof of the building to help with heat problems.
I also needed to design out all the parts for the other sizes of engines, so I figured I should implement each of them into the factory as well. Which meant I had three more sizes to design and tinker with before I was done. I started with the largest design, which used a two inch thick plate cut from the very center of the 36-inch crystal. That engine alone took 28 days to design and refine to a reasonable level.
During that time, we received a message via the elven messenger birds. Two thirds of the dwarves that attempted to return to the mainland perished. They weren't attacked by any leviathans, however, they did still get attacked by other large sea-life, resulting in destroyed boats, drowning, and starvation, even with the extra supplies we sent them with.
The only reason they were still able to send a message was because Kao paid the difference to make sure his other dwarves trapped here knew of the danger. Kao provided a list of the survivors as part of the message. Morale among the dwarves plummeted after the message arrived. I think quite a few of them were hoping that the trip would go well, and they all could attempt to return home via that method. Instead, they were informed of a loss of many of their comrade's lives. Thankfully, there was a seal on the note, which multiple dwarves vouched for the authenticity of, otherwise I'd be worried about a mutiny if they thought I was perhaps withholding information or faking the message.
I installed the extra large stirling engine in the factory, and set it up to power all the crushers and the furnaces, though there are mechanical disconnects to prevent the machines from running, and a brake to stop the stirling engine if it isn't needed. After that, I still needed to power the tumbler drums for smoothing the crushed rock to smooth sand, so I designed the next largest size engine. Each of the three drums is fairly large and has its own stirling engine to power it.
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Those engines took just as long as the largest one to design and make as they are quite a bit smaller, using slightly smaller heating plates that are also half as thick. One problem that I'd like to solve is the need for manual separations of lightstone. I mentioned various methods before to attempt to separate lightstone using density and meshes, but I'm still not certain on the viability of that process. Plus, most of the lightstone will be reusable in these molds, so we should only need a few stoneshapers making more of it at a time.
The facility was functional at that point, so I went around the city hiring on new workers, including grabbing a few more stoneshaping goblins that had recently gained the ability. Zeb wasn't too happy about me taking more future construction workers, but it is what it is. The last of the initial apartment buildings were being completed, and I figured it was as good a time as any to move all the workers in the lab area into their new housing.
That had mixed results. Some were more than happy to move closer to work, rather than having to walk over a mile each way. Others were less happy as they felt like they were losing their previous community. When it came down to it however, I agreed to pay all of them slightly more money to get them to move, and they agreed. When it comes down to it, they're being paid for secrecy as well as the fact that they do have to travel to go to any of the amenities in the city.
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It actually took quite a while to train the twenty-one goblins to work the factory. After six days, the goblins had gotten more familiar with how everything worked, and we had produced enough sand to try a casting. Needless to say, it was a complete failure. I ended up spending thirty-seven days until we'd worked out how to actually do sand casting. Part of that time was spent directing construction teams on where to build walls, watchtowers, and gates for the facility, as we entered spring shortly after I started the whole endeavor.
After the new workers could actually start working on the process, I still had one more stirling engine size to design. This was the most intermediate-sized design, and ultimately, getting all the replaceable parts designed ended up taking 15 days. During that time, the crystal growers finished the order for the crystal lights.
I'd been so preoccupied that I was shocked that the time had passed so fast. They ended up installing a few of the lights around the doors and tools down in the crystal growing room as emergency lighting. They weren't very bright, given the low mana in the environment, but if any of the fire sources ever went out, it is enough to let someone get out from the dark environment safely.
The other lights were sent off and installed in storage basements throughout the city. Many of the dwarves were very skeptical of the crystalline lights initially. After a short while of there being no injuries or health problems for any of the demons, they seemed to be less afraid. Even if they figure out that the crystals are made of fluorite, figuring out how to grow a fluorite crystal is practically a magic iteslf without a prior understanding of crystallization processes. Which is exactly why I'm having the walls around this facility constructed. These could end up being an incredible strategic and economic resource, so I really don't want anyone stealing this idea.
Ultimately, I'm only partially done with all the construction I need to do in the facility. Next, I need to design a facility for making and storing hydrogen, then I need to design the new cryogenics facility. With spring having rolled around, a mining team has been hauling over new fluorite crystals about once a month, which has been a big help, since we were almost out of everything I'd mined in those eight days a few months ago.
I'm actually a little behind on my training, and if I'm being honest, I'm more than a little worried. I'm getting closer and closer to maxing out my level, and I don't know what exactly to expect when I do. I think I should probably bite the bullet, and just train continuously for a little bit, and try to reach that point, just to get it over with. On the other hand, the sooner I get this facility up and running, the sooner we have a surplus of cryogenic argon to grow mana crystals with.