——Japanese prosthetic limb maker Hayashi
Japanese prosthetic limb craftsman Hayashi loved to take things apart and put them back together when he was a child. When he was in junior high school, he made a music box and gave it to his first girlfriend. After graduating from high school, he chose to work instead of going to college. Confusion about the future made him lose his direction for a time. One time, he accidentally discovered a book about making prosthetic limbs in a bookstore, which suddenly inspired him: "Why can't I try it myself?" With the support and encouragement of his girlfriend, he enrolled in professional prosthetic limb manufacturing technology. school, and also went abroad for further study. After graduation, he joined a large Japanese prosthetics and orthotics company. His job is to sell and deliver ready-made prosthetics to hospitals. But what Lin wants to do more is to make prosthetic limbs, and to continue to improve this manufacturing technology and create customized prosthetic limbs. Five years later, Lin resigned and opened his own studio.
Almost repelled by "perfectionism"
Lin hopes that the prosthetic limbs he makes can be realistic in appearance and function. But how?
At first, he did not produce the prosthetic limb as expected, and he faced tremendous psychological pressure in his pursuit of perfection.
Once, a client whose right hand was mechanically severed asked Lin to make a prosthetic hand for him and requested that the entire right hand be reconstructed from the wrist. The job was difficult, so Lin accepted it. But after working all night, Lin could not achieve the desired effect no matter how hard he tried, and the delivery time was delayed again and again. Finally, when the day was agreed upon to deliver the prosthetic hand, Lin still had not completed the delivery. Ten minutes before meeting with the customer, he closed the door of the store and pretended that he was not there. When he saw the background of disappointed customers leaving, Lin felt very guilty. From then on, he decided not to escape anymore.
If you want to make a living in this business, you can no longer run away from it. He worked hard to complete the prosthetic hand within a week. This incident made Lin think deeply. How could he meet customer expectations without escaping from technical bottlenecks? Finally one day he figured it out that it was impossible to suddenly create a perfect prosthetic hand, but through work and focusing on improving one point at a time, he could eventually reach a higher level!
Focus on one thing at a time
Lin told himself that he could not rush for success, but he must continue to improve. Just like a marathon, even if you progress 1 millimeter each time, you can make considerable progress over time. Lin began to set improvement themes for his work, such as making the prosthetic limb fit the hand more naturally and preventing it from falling off, and making the coloring of the hand appear more natural next time. And so on...
When Lin makes finger prostheses, he first coats the customer's hand with special resin to make a mold, and then pours wax into the mold to create a prototype. This process is the basis for making prosthetics. Next, he chose to use the symmetrical fingers of the customer's other intact hand to make a mold. Compared with the general market, which directly uses model fingers to mold, the advantage is that Lin's replica is more realistic, and even the tiny wrinkles on the hand can be shown. Lin then used heating tools to adjust the inside of the prosthesis to fit the original joints. Lin copied the fingers of the customer's right hand using the fingers of his intact left hand. He felt that each person's fingers had their own unique characteristics, and a prosthetic limb made using the original hand would feel more natural to the user.
Shaping the fingers is only the first step. Lin adds some pigments to the silicone to simulate the color of the customer's finger skin. Then fill the inside of the mold with silicone and heat it in the oven for about an hour. The preliminary model of the prosthetic limb comes out. Next, Lin will have the client come over to try on the prosthesis and make adjustments based on the experience. For example, the angle of the fingers, the fit and comfort of wearing it, and even whether the color of the prosthesis is consistent with the appearance of the entire hand, etc. Sometimes, because the color of his fingers is slightly reddish, Lin will re-open the mold and reset it, striving to achieve perfection.
Lin always strives to be the best in the prosthetics he delivers to his customers.
Sometimes, the customer thinks that the work has been done so realistically that the color difference cannot be seen. As long as he feels dissatisfied, he will still ask the customer to give him more time to revise it, and even pay for the customer's travel expenses.
Lin said he was unwilling to hand over his unfinished product. If it's not his best, he won't hand over the product easily until he's satisfied. Because of Lin's tenacity and persistence, his prosthetic limb manufacturing process is now so close to perfect that I can't even tell which one is real and which one is fake when the customer wears it in front of the camera.
Compared with appearance, Lin pays more attention to the suitability of prosthetic limbs. The thickness of ordinary prostheses is uniform. If it is too large, there will be a gap at the bottom of the finger; if it is too small, it will squeeze the finger. Lin fine-tunes the thickness of the prosthetic's interior to match each person's fingers based on the customer's characteristics. Make it more comfortable for customers to wear and won't fall off easily. It is even suitable enough to allow people to transfer power to their fingertips and become a part of their body.
I admire this craftsman spirit of always thinking about customers and striving for excellence. As Lin himself described: "When you want to accomplish something, but you can't do it for a while. You should look for the reasons within yourself. Your work reflects your ability. Surpassing yourself every day is a professional thing."< /p>