Chapter 374: I Bring a Furniture Revolution to Europe
After giving instructions for the trial production of the bulletproof plates, Joseph felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. The past few days of non-stop work at the armory reminded him of his former life, working on projects with his mentor. Fortunately, he had his father's help this time, preventing him from collapsing from overwork.
He watched as Louis XVI headed to the Petit Trianon—after indulging in his craftsman's passion for the past few days, the King seemed eager to spend time with his wife. Joseph, however, wasted no time and immediately set off for the Royal Gunpowder Factory in Paris, intending to discuss the mass production of casein glue with Lavoisier. Without solving the adhesive production issue, the bulletproof plates couldn't reach their full strategic potential.
When Joseph's carriage pulled up in front of the Gunpowder Factory's office building, the entire place buzzed with excitement. The workers and management, many of whom had ties to the military, were keenly interested in the victories at the front lines. They dropped what they were doing and gathered to catch a glimpse of the legendary hero who had led the "Great Victory of the Southern Netherlands"—the Crown Prince.
Joseph and Lavoisier had to flee the Gunpowder Factory to avoid the overwhelming crowd and continued their conversation in Joseph's office at the Tuileries Palace. It took some time for the workers to reluctantly return to their duties after the Prince's departure, spurred on by the overseers' shouts.
In the carriage, Lavoisier, listening to Joseph's request, frowned slightly. "Your Highness, producing casein glue isn't difficult, but I fear that the demand for your bulletproof plates may not justify large-scale production."
Joseph paused, realizing that he had been so caught up in the project that he hadn't considered the commercial aspect. Indeed, in a pre-industrial era, if you were willing to invest, and there were no technical obstacles, you could produce almost anything in large quantities. But who would buy it? If the products couldn't be sold, it would just mean continued financial losses.
While he was willing to invest in critical military equipment, continuous losses weren't sustainable in the long term. He turned to the "Father of Chemistry" and asked, "Monsieur Lavoisier, who else might need this kind of adhesive?"
"Well, in the past, only carpenters would use it in small amounts. Occasionally, cobblers would use a little to glue soles. They usually order a small bottle from the pharmacy at the beginning of the year."
"Carpenters?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Lavoisier replied. "Casein glue was originally invented to meet the needs of carpenters, but you know, it didn't make the inventor any money."
Joseph pondered this. "Could you explain in more detail when a carpenter would use this?"
"Any situation where nails can't be used, Your Highness. Casein glue bonds wood very strongly. Once it dries, the joint is often stronger than the wood itself…"
As Lavoisier elaborated on the properties of casein glue, Joseph's eyes began to light up. If casein glue could bond so strongly and had such a good affinity with wood, could it be used to produce engineered wood?
Joseph knew that in later times, most common household furniture wasn't made from solid wood. In fact, 90% of the furniture on the market was made from engineered wood, such as MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) and particleboard. These artificial boards were made by compressing wood chips and sawdust—essentially, "waste"—with adhesives.
Don't underestimate this "waste" product—engineered wood sparked a furniture revolution in the late 19th century!
First of all, engineered wood was much cheaper than solid wood. This was mainly because furniture-grade solid wood could only be sourced from the straight trunks of trees, meaning branches or crooked trees couldn't be used.
But with engineered wood, the entire tree could be used to make furniture. Whether it was crooked or fragmented, it could all be ground up and pressed into standard boards with adhesive. Despite the added costs of adhesives and processing, the overall price remained very affordable.
Industries like shipbuilding, which consumed vast amounts of timber, often discarded enough unusable wood each year to provide new furniture for everyone in France. If a factory producing engineered wood could be established near the shipyards in Brittany, it could create a timber-shipbuilding-engineered wood-furniture industry chain, even reducing shipbuilding costs.
Moreover, the most significant advantage of engineered wood over solid wood wasn't just the cost. Contrary to what one might think, engineered wood led to a furniture revolution mainly because of several unmatched advantages:
The first advantage was ease of processing. Engineered wood came out of the factory as square, flat sheets. A carpenter could quickly cut and assemble these sheets into furniture, while someone working with solid wood would still be laboriously preparing the boards.
This would lead to a massive increase in furniture production, with output potentially multiplying by several times. With more styles available and lower prices, a sales boom would naturally follow. It's worth noting that the most profitable industrial products aren't always the most refined ones but those that meet the basic needs of the most people. Just like in later times, luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz or BMW couldn't compete with mass-market brands like Toyota or Volkswagen in terms of sales volume.
The second advantage was that engineered wood had better nail-holding capacity than solid wood. Solid wood, being denser, exerted an outward force on nails, whereas engineered wood, made of compressed wood particles, didn't have this issue. This meant that furniture made from engineered wood was also more durable.
Of course, this could be solved by using traditional Eastern joinery techniques, but in Europe, furniture was still mainly held together with nails. Getting tens of thousands of carpenters to change their preferred techniques would require a miracle.
Finally, engineered wood was much more resistant to pests than solid wood. Adhesives were like poison to wood-eating insects, making engineered wood nearly immune to infestations.
Durable, pest-resistant, and affordable furniture could easily outperform solid wood furniture and dominate the market.
Thinking of this, Joseph suppressed his excitement and asked Lavoisier, "If I could find a market, say, for 500,000 kilograms per month, could you help me build a casein glue factory with that production capacity?"
"500,000 kilograms?!" Lavoisier was stunned. The entire continent of Europe probably consumed only a few thousand kilograms of casein glue annually. For the Crown Prince to suggest selling 500,000 kilograms per month was almost unbelievable!
But seeing the seriousness in Joseph's eyes, Lavoisier began to think deeply.
After a moment, he shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, producing 500,000 kilograms per month in the short term is impossible. However, if you're willing to invest 1 million livres, I could try to scale production up to 50,000 kilograms per month."
"1 million livres!" Joseph almost cursed. When he first set up the United Steam Engine Company, the initial investment was only 1 million. And now, this "glue factory" was demanding the same investment? How could it compare to a steam engine company?
(End of Chapter)
Friends, if you want to read chapters in advance, subscribe to my patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10