Video of college student in China's Suzhou peeling raw egg using lathe goes viral

Recently, a video of a student from Suzhou Technician College in Suzhou city, east China's Jiangsu Province peeling a raw egg using an engine lathe has gone viral online.

Zou Longlong, a student from Suzhou Technician College in Suzhou city, east China's Jiangsu Province, peels a raw egg using an engine lathe. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

In the video, Zou Longlong, who specializes in prototype modeling at the college, operated an engine lathe to peel away part of the egg’s outer shell without piercing the egg’s delicate membrane. Zou's astonishing skills have amazed countless numbers of netizens.

Zou, now 21 years old, said he never expected to become famous online. The man said that he began to peel raw eggs using a lathe in 2021 and finally mastered the techniques in one week after many failed attempts.

According to Zou, he first fixed a raw egg to the chuck of the lathe so that the egg would not wobble or get smashed when the chuck rotated quickly, and then carefully controlled the lathe's cutting tool to peel away the outer eggshell bit by bit. Since eggs have irregular shapes, he also had to adjust the cutting tool accordingly while peeling raw eggs. Zou explained that the tip requires the proper strength.

Zou peeled raw eggs as a way to hone his vocational skills, which are necessary to become a prototype modeler. In 2017, Zou became a student at Suzhou Technician College. After one year of hard work, he was selected to prepare for a prototype modeling competition.

Zou Longlong hones his vocational skills. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

The prototype modeler must have a wide range of skills, such as those for operating engineer lathes, general milling machines and computer numerical control machines, as well as milling and spraying with hand tools, in addition to 3D printing, introduced Li Ling, Zou's instructor.

To improve his vocational skills, Zou practiced 14 hours a day. After years of arduous training, he was able to win many awards in several competitions. He won the first place prize in prototype modeling at the qualification trials in Jiangsu Province for the 46th WorldSkills Competition and the fourth place in prototype modeling at China's first Vocational Skills Competition. He was also awarded the title of "National Technical Expert" by the country's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

"'National Technical Expert' is the highest honorary title for domestic skills competitions. It was too difficult for a student like Zou to win the title," Li said.

Zou said he wants to be a teacher in the future to cultivate more talents in prototype modeling.

Photo shows Zou Longlong's certificate of honor. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Photo shows Zou Longlong's certificate showing the title of "National Technical Expert" awarded by China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)