The making process of Wan 'an compass making technology

Wan 'an Compass inherits the traditional compass making skills of our country, and has formed its own characteristics in the long-term production process, which has strict requirements on technical processes and techniques. Generally, there are six processes to make a compass, namely: blank making, grinding and polishing, graduation, lettering on the disk, oiling and magnetic needle mounting. 1, choose Temu Tiger Bone Tree (scientific name Chongyang Wood);

2, sawing into a compass blank;

3. Polishing the blank rim and digging the round hole for installing the magnetic needle;

4. Write by disk, draw by disk, according to Taiji Yin and Yang, Eight Diagrams, Twenty-four Guas, heavenly stems and earthly branches, Twenty-four Azimuth, Twenty-four Solar Terms, Zodiac, Twenty-eight Nights and Three Hundred and Sixty-five Weeks, and write according to the description in the collection;

5. Then boil tung oil and oil the compass;

6. Installing the magnetic needle is the last and most critical process, which is operated by the shopkeeper alone in the secret room. Its work includes magnetizing the steel needle, determining the center of gravity of the magnetic needle and loading the needle. One of the most mysterious processes is dividing the grid and writing the disk. Compass makers need to write the contents of the grid in fine print with a brush according to the secret maps of different models and disks, which must be rigorous and meticulous.

The most critical process is the sixth installation of the magnetic needle. First, the special steel needle is magnetized on the natural magnet for half a month, and then the center of gravity of the needle is accurately determined and firmly installed on the fulcrum in the round hole to ensure that the pointer can rotate freely without resistance.

Only those who have seen Wan 'an compass with their own eyes will know how hard and tired a small compass is. Not to mention how hard the wood of the tiger bone tree is, which is difficult to carve and polish, nor how difficult it is to write regular script with a 1000 fine print (the smallest word is less than one millimeter). It takes a whole day for each compass just to carve a cobweb of round lines and straight lines, and there can't be any.