Rong Pengqiang drills metal pipes used for weapons, tanks, and nuclear power plants. No mistakes can be made in this job and Rong is known for his precision, tio within one third the thickness of a human hair.
Rong Pengqiang drills metal pipes used for weapons, tanks, and nuclear power plants. No mistakes can be made in this job and Rong is known for his precision, tio within one third the thickness of a human hair.
For the last 33 years, Rong Pengqiang has been doing just one thing. He drills metal pipes.
Every day he works with these boring cutters. When the cutters are put into drilling machines, Rong can tune them to make pipes that meet the most precise requirements. He's proud of his craftsmanship, but it took him a while.
"The first time I saw the drilling machines I was scared. The machine is huge and so loud.
It took me a while to get used to it and become less scared. But now, the more work I do, the more terrified I am. Because now I know the responsibilities I carry," Rong said.
The steel pipes Rong works on find their ways to high maintenance situations from weapons to oil drills. This batch for power station boilers needs to withstand 650 degree heat for 40 years.
"In our line of business, no mistake is allowed. A man could die, or a battle could be lost if you are not careful. That's how big our responsibilities are," he said.
Rong has his own particular technique to achieve that. For every pipe he bores, Rong holds the working pipe in his hand during the drilling. By feeling the vibrations, he knows whether it's going right or wrong.
"Because you can't see what's going on inside the pipe, you have to learn to tell by feel. It takes years to know the difference. Each session usually lasts for hours. I always stand by the machine and I never wear gloves even in winter," he said.
"If the tolerance allowed is 0.015 millimeter, my master can bring it down to a fraction of that so it won't influence other parts of the procedure," said Zhang Jie, Rong's apprentice.
Rong has made only one defective pipe in his entire career. It had exceeded the tolerance by 0.5 millimeter. He said it's also the pipe that made him the meticulous man he is today.
"It's the step before me that went wrong. But I didn't notice it and the mistake could not be corrected. The pipe was discarded. And I felt so bad that I couldn't sleep for days," he said.
That's when Rong started taking notes for future reference. He's now passing down all the knowledge he has learnt in the last three decades to a younger generation. He also hopes to pass down the spirit that sustains him to this day.
"You must have a sense of mission, and a sense of honor. The key to do this job well is the same as living a good life, you must carefully watch out for deviations and not go astray," he said.
Rong will retire in less than ten years. He said he's not working for money. Instead, he's working for the sense of honor and pride that pipe-boring continues to bring him.
